Artwork in the room
Martynas Ivinskas is an artist born in Kaunas, Lithuania, and currently living and working between Vilnius and Brussels. His practice moves freely between painting, drawing, objects, collage and assemblage, deliberately resisting strict boundaries between artistic forms and media.
Ivinskas is drawn to what surrounds him: the city, people, music, architecture, everyday objects, and the constant visual noise of contemporary life. He observes his environment, breaks it down into fragments, and reconstructs it into new, sometimes absurd, sometimes playful, but always distinctly personal forms. In his work, order is constantly confronted with chaos, while reality meets imagination.
The city becomes a kind of playground in Ivinskas's practice. Musicians, instruments, buildings, human figures, signs, and fragments of everyday life overlap, repeat, and intertwine, forming complex visual networks. Rather than asking the viewer simply to "read" an artwork, Ivinskas invites them to get lost in it - to search for familiar forms, create their own associations, and discover something they may not have been looking for in the first place.
He frequently works with unconventional surfaces and materials, ranging from city maps to jute coffee sacks and everyday objects. In his practice, a painting can move beyond the canvas, a collage can become an object, and an ordinary item can acquire an entirely different life. This unrestricted relationship with materials and media is central to his creative approach.
Ivinskas's exhibitions function as works in their own right. Individual paintings, objects, and fragments are deliberately brought together into visually intense, sometimes chaotic environments. Art critic Paulius Garbačiauskas has described this approach as a "fragmented reality" - a carefully constructed chaos in which chance becomes part of the artistic method.
Ivinskas has presented solo exhibitions in Lithuania and the United States, including DUO 02/16 at Hangar Gallery in Santa Monica, 10'000 signatures at gallery Building Bridges Art Exchange in Santa Monica, Colorful Society at Bruce Lurie Gallery in Los Angeles, and …on the maps at Vilnius City Hall. His work has also been presented internationally in group exhibitions, including exhibitions at the Louvre in Paris and Times Square in New York.
Ivinskas's work is difficult to define through a single technique, medium, or stylistic vocabulary. And that is not a problem to be solved. On the contrary, the freedom to choose, combine, and experiment is one of the defining characteristics of his practice.
About this artwork+
The painting is a vibrant collage that intermingles various elements and textures, invoking a sense of exploration and discovery. It consists of a backdrop made of grids and sections that resemble map fragments or newspaper clippings overlaid with various images and text snippets in both English and non-English scripts, possibly Japanese. Central to this visual medley is an imaginative and whimsical illustration featuring a prominent lighthouse striped in red and white, akin to a traditional barber's pole, but emitting colorful swirls into the sky. Below the lighthouse, a complex assembly suggestive of a Rube Goldberg machine occupies the central section. This apparatus includes playful elements like a red apple, a green bottle, and a cup, all connected by flowing lines, which might imply movement or energy transfer. Adding to the playful chaos is the presence of cartoonish clouds and a smoke plume. On the left, a bright yellow area adorned with a large, solitary star stands out sharply against the primarily blue background, adding a pop of color and visual interest. Towards the bottom right, a comical scene features a character on a scooter, enhancing the overall playful and surreal nature of the artwork. The phrase "Kur verda alus, ten verda gyvenimas" meaning "Where beer is brewed, life is brewed" is penned artistically, reinforcing themes of creativity and creation. This phrase, coupled with the imagery, might suggest a connection to the culture or ambiance of a place where lively brewing—in both the literal and metaphorical sense—takes place. The incorporation of whimsical, almost dream-like imagery with everyday objects and snippets of human life creates a layered narrative, one that invites viewers to decipher its multifaceted story.
