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 displays a vivid assortment of abstract and whimsical elements in a variety of bold colors. At the center, there's a large, detailed human heart, rendered in red hues with anatomical precision, around which the rest of the elements seem to orbit. Surrounding the heart are various figures and objects, including what appears to be vegetables like asparagus and carrots, adding an organic feel to the composition. Nearby, a cup of coffee and an abstract depiction of a coffee pot can be seen, suggesting a domestic or daily life theme. The top of the painting features stylized, cartoonish faces in profile, which are brightly colored and expressively outlined in black, creating a stark contrast. These faces seem to be engaging with each other, with speech bubbles containing the text "POP," indicating dialogue or noise. The swirling and flowing lines around these elements lend a dynamic and energetic feel to the painting, and the background is filled with large blocks of color that frame the central and surrounding figures, anchoring the composition and enhancing its vibrancy. The painting exudes a sense of vivacity and fantastical chaos, inviting viewers to interpret its elements in their personal context.
