Ricardas Zdanavicius, Today`s Grimaces, February 23-March 22 2023

In the works exhibited in the virtual exhibition, the author focuses on the secret inner feelings of his or (imagined) characters, mostly women, which are not verbalized, but are recognizable to the viewer by the expression of body language recorded by the artist. A grimace is an (un)natural emotional reaction to external stimuli. This reflects a state where, when we are in a specific situation, we control ourselves in order to hide our inner world from those around us. The artist hyperbolizes these experiences with expressive forms of anthropomorphic figures, impulsive contours of the drawing and bright strokes of painting, thanks to which the characters undergo a metamorphosis - they become impersonal, abstracted characters, each of whom the viewer can identify with individually. In the exhibition, the artist questions the human ability to remain ourselves when we do not always dare to appear as we feel in the eyes of others.

The reincarnation of the characters of the works is revealed in different types of works. Spontaneously arising thoughts are first laid down in sketch drawings, then developed in paintings on paper, in which the idea is configured and acquires an aesthetic structure. In the paintings painted on paper, Zdanavicius boldly manipulates the schematic compositions marked in the drawings and changes the colors. In this way, the complex work process of the artist is revealed and often hidden, which in this exhibition is equated with the personal world.

The exhibition, as it were, continues the artist's long-term series of exhibitions Dialogas I-IV and Feelings from the Sketchbook, supplementing it with new themes and insights, the most important of which are the intimate inner monologues of the author and/or his characters.

Works are for sale. Ask for prices.