These days, France is full of events related to the Lithuanian Season in France. Within the framework of this season, Mykolas Sauka’s solo exhibition “Children’s Room” opened at the “Galerie Olivier Waltman” in the bustling Marais district of Paris. The opening event lasted for a good half of the day and attracted a crowd of Lithuanian art lovers, Parisians, visitors to the city, and French people who are just beginning to discover the gems of our culture.
The exhibition “Children’s Room” is a continuation of Mykolas Sauka’s ongoing creative project. In 2022, the same-titled solo installation of wooden sculptures by M. Sauka was presented at the exhibition halls of Vilnius Academy of Arts “Titanikas”. A year later, part of this exhibition was showcased in Paris during the exhibition “Iron Wolf” (curated by Julija Palmeirao), dedicated to the 700th anniversary of Vilnius. Olivier Waltman, a Parisian gallery owner, who attended the exhibition featuring artists creating in Vilnius, was captivated by Mykolas Sauka’s work and immediately proposed organizing a solo exhibition at his gallery the following year.
Gallery owner Olivier Waltman does not hide his admiration for Mykolas’ work:
“The theater of our inner self unfolds in a spectacular staging of finely crafted small objects or immense totems carved with an electric saw. The accumulation of sculptural groups and abrupt changes in scale are essential elements of Mykolas Sauka’s sculptural vocabulary. In his works, we see references to traditional sculpture, as well as a strong influence of sacred art. Monumental twisted columns lift cherubim and seraphim towards the sky, inviting both reverie and a transcendent experience. The sculptures of this artist, who is also a writer, give material form to emotions felt in childhood, which one never fully outgrows.”
At the “Galerie Olivier Waltman” exhibition “Children’s Room,” only the main sculpture group from this artistic series remains – the twisting gates featuring the key “room” figures – a la baroque chubby cherub-like angels perched on columns. All the other sculptures presented in the exhibition are the result of nearly a year and a half of work in preparation for this show.
“Mykolas Sauka’s ‘Children’s Room’ immerses us in a captivating and unsettling world that explores the connections between human existence and the surrounding environment. While a veil of purity seems to envelope the exhibited works, mysterious and sometimes deformed bodies capture attention, evoking conflicting emotions: calm and chaos, security and alienation. Behind this innocent title lies a world far from idyllic, and this contrast lies at the heart of Mykolas Sauka’s artistic quest. He explores dichotomies: beauty and ugliness, purity and filth, creation and destruction, tradition and the self-destruction of the modern world. Each sculpture becomes a microcosm of human experience, resonating with narratives of vulnerability, resilience, and the passage of time. As we wander among the sculptures, we confront our fears and oddities, realizing that our subconscious sometimes accepts strangeness as an inevitable fate,” says the exhibition’s curator, Julija Palmeirao.
The artist himself has mentioned more than once that he views this artistic project as a playground, where we all become players. The element of play remains in his newest works. However, it is not just that – in this exhibition, the artist confronts the viewer with contemporary society, where the cult of body deformation is popular. “Body modification trends are spreading, where bodies are tattooed, ears and noses are cut off, fingers, breasts, genitals, or hands are removed, tongues are split, and various implants are placed under the skin, all in an effort to become something other than human, something more or less – another type of animal, alien, or plant. It seems to me that this is about searching for identity, the desire to stand out at any cost, but at the same time to blend in with an exclusive community. However, this trend mostly stems from discomfort with being in one’s own body. And then there are the perfect bodies and perfect people on social media, in movies, and in advertisements. In such a backdrop, I feel the need to depict as imperfect and uncomfortable bodies as possible. Here, form merges with content: I choose to depict deformed figures and body parts, but the sculpture itself is deformed by my inability to represent them accurately, by my crooked knowledge of anatomy and lack of skill. In other words: my naivety,” explains Mykolas Sauka.
Already in the first half-day of the exhibition’s opening, “Children’s Room” attracted the attention of several hundred visitors, reflecting the high level of interest in Mykolas Sauka’s work. Undoubtedly, each of them left with a lasting impression of the unique world of wooden sculptures, infused with the artist’s irony and sincerity. Sauka masterfully combines the simplicity of everyday life with a profound and multi-layered visual world, inviting viewers on an experimental journey through the depths of imagination. As the “Children’s Room” exhibition at Galerie Olivier Waltman runs until November 2nd, it is expected to attract not only art enthusiasts but also a broader audience eager to discover one of the most prominent creators in contemporary Lithuanian art.
The exhibition runs until November 2nd.
Address: 16 rue du Perche, 75003 Paris.
Photography: Galerie Olivier Waltman
