Photo reportage from the exhibition ‘Diagram of Time’ by Rimantas Milkintas at the Anykščiai art incubator

October 31, 2022
Author Echo Gone Wrong

On the 6th of September Rimantas Milkintas’ solo exhibition ‘Diagram of Time’ opened at the Anykščiai art incubator – art studio, J. Bilūno str. 53, Anykščiai.

Rimantas Milkintas’ works are distinguished by a combination of characteristic minimalist aesthetics and kinetic plasticity. The artist’s works are characterized by an open construction, a shape signifying meaning, and the creation of an imaginary effect of movement in space. He is particularly interested in the dialogue that a sculptural object or an installation develops with its environment and the viewer. The sculptor works with building materials: steel beams, plywood, and increasingly more often, ready-made elements containing their own history that have become today’s artifacts. The works use conceptual language to express the artist’s observations and reflections on themes that are relevant today, without shying away from difficult topics such as war and its impact on culture or human feelings.

In his latest solo exhibition, Rimantas Milkintas presents works created before and now, with the site-specific installation Diagram of Time as the core of the exhibition. The works selected for this exposition reflect the current trends of recent years and develop the author’s search for the use of industrial products in his work. The diagram, usually graphic, is designed to convey a variety of different sizes and ratios. It breaks out of its confines in the exhibition and reveals more important, sensual aspects instead of structured numbers. The artist’s work conveys constant change, tension, anxiety, and other emotions. This is manifested both through the open sculptural form characteristic to Rimantas Milkintas and through the analysis of the physical properties of the materials used, the flexibility of the hardness and solidity of the remnants of industrial production. By deforming seemingly unaffected materials to create new meaningful structures, the artist also demonstrates the ability of humans to adapt to environmental factors. In the exhibition Diagram of Time, Rimantas Milkintas reveals the multifaceted impact of everyday events on us and invites us to notice the constant change in society.

Rimantas Milkintas (b. 1977) – 1995-1999 studied at Telšiai Higher School of Applied Arts, 1999-2005 graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in sculpture. The artist has organized over fifty exhibitions and presented his works in Germany, China, Italy, Belgium, Finland, and many other countries. In 2005 he was awarded the NORD / LB Prize for the installation “Stable and Flexible”; in 2006 he received the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation III Prize, in 2011 he was given the best sculpture/installation ArtVilnius’11 award, and in 2020 he was awarded the Golden Badge of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association for the active creation of sculptures and installations for public spaces.

(Av17) Gallery, which organizes the exhibition, is located in Vilnius and is a space that has been actively working with contemporary art for eleven years. It is one of the few galleries operating in Lithuania, presenting the art of an exclusively contemporary object, sculpture, and installation. In addition to its continuous exhibition activities, the gallery implements various international and regional, artistic and educational projects, and carries out exchange programs with foreign and Lithuanian creators, thus promoting the dissemination of contemporary art in our country and Europe.

Rimantas Milkintas’ exhibition Diagram of Time will be open until the 7th of November at the Anykščiai art incubator.

The project is partly supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.

Photography: Laima Milkintė