On 26 June at 6 pm, sculptor Kęstutis Svirnelis’s exhibition Digital Soul will open at the Titanikas Exhibition Halls of the Vilnius Academy of Arts (VAA), covering a total area of 700 m². This marks the largest presentation of the artist’s work in Lithuania to date. The exhibition is organised in cooperation with the Vilnius City Gallery Meno niša, which represents the artist.
Kęstutis Svirnelis (b. 1976) is a renowned creator of kinetic objects. After studying sculpture at the VAA, he earned his Master’s degree in Stuttgart, Germany, where he has been living for over twenty years. The artist creates interactive, kinetic objects and installations of various scales, exploring themes such as capitalism, consumerism, liberalism, democracy, and the human role within systems.
As Krzysztof Gutfranski (Poland), the curator of Digital Soul, states: “Kęstutis Svirnelis is, above all, a practical dreamer – an artist who navigates the terrain of the absurd with the hands of a builder and the eyes of a poet. While his sculptures often emerge from found materials and the logic of objet trouvé, they betray a meticulousness that’s anything but accidental. Behind their DIY surfaces lies a sly nod to Baltic woodworking traditions – quietly disciplined, unfussy – and an ironic inheritance from his years in Stuttgart, where the spirit of technical perfectionism lingers like a stubborn ghost in his playful contraptions. This new exhibition at Titanikas Gallery in Vilnius offers the most comprehensive look yet at his evolving practice, where old and new works converge to probe the strange intimacy between bodies, machines, and the myths of artificial intelligence.”
For the first time in Lithuania, the artist is presenting his work on such a large scale, occupying the entire space of the Titanikas Exhibition Halls – a total of around 700 m². Many of his kinetic objects will require several weeks to install and will only take their final form during the installation process, with their display involving complex technical solutions.
“The Lithuanian public discovered Kęstutis already back in 2009. He has been presented several times in the Project Zone of the ArtVilnius art fair and is a regular participant in the fair’s annual exhibition Takas. His work explores social, political, and everyday themes, and while it is not always easy to interpret, it can appeal to viewers even through its form alone. We are truly delighted to meet the curator Krzysztof Gutfranski, a dedicated supporter of Kęstutis’ work,” says Sonata Baliuckaitė, the exhibition coordinator and curator of the Vilnius City Gallery Meno niša, which represents the artist in Lithuania.
Reflecting on the upcoming exhibition, the artist notes that everything in the world is constantly shifting and merging – the past with the present – to become something new. “What do decades-old digital technologies mean in our present? Dūšia[1], an archaic ethnographic Lithuanian word for ‘spirit’ – what was it like back then, and what is it like today? What is changing? What are the most influential processes, and what exactly do they affect? How does globalism function, as it erodes cultural diversity in the broadest sense? We can be citizens of the world without losing our identity – our language, our dances, our food culture, and more,” Svirnelis explains. He emphasises his Dzūkian[2] roots (the artist is originally from the village of Zervynos, Varėna district), while also acknowledging the lasting influence of Swabian-Germanic culture, in which he has lived for over two decades
Digital Soul is Svirnelis’ nineteenth solo exhibition. The artist has showcased his work not only in Germany and Lithuania, but also in the UK, Austria, Turkey, South Korea, Poland, and the USA. His kinetic sculptures have been featured at numerous art fairs, including ArtVilnius, Positions Berlin, and Vienna Contemporary. In 2018, Svirnelis was named Audience Select Artist at ArtVilnius.
Kęstutis Svirnelis’ exhibition Digital Soul will be on view at the VAA Titanikas Exhibition Halls until 26 July. The exhibition is curated by Polish writer, researcher, and curator Krzysztof Gutfranski, coordinated by Sonata Baliuckaitė and with graphic design by Demian Bern. It is organised by the Vilnius City Gallery Meno niša and the VAA Titanikas Exhibition Halls, financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius City Municipality.
[1] The Lithuanian title of the exhibition, Skaitmeninė Dūšia, includes an archaic synonym of the word siela, meaning ‘spirit’ in standard Lithuanian.
[2] Dzūkija is one of Lithuania’s five ethnographic regions.
