On Friday, 28th February, at 6:00 PM, the solo exhibition “Fandom” by Anastasia Sosunova will open at the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) in Vilnius.
Every human being, as long as they’re walking on Earth, is a businessperson, for Earth is the place of the business of their personal development. – Augustinas Rakauskas
In this exhibition, Anastasia Sosunova continues her series of works inspired by the spiritual teachings of the founder of Senukai hardware stores. These teachings have been a guiding force for the business since its inception. Through fan fiction, the artist seeks to unlock the tensions, passions, and frustrations that arise between power and faith, encoded in rituals and hidden beneath the promises of DIY self-actualisation.
Fan fiction rarely adheres strictly to its source material. Instead, it often takes radical creative liberties, interpreting its inspiration through diverse genres such as comics, literary fiction, amateur cinema, or even pornography. In this case, Sosunova draws inspiration from the Lithuanian entrepreneur’s spiritual philosophies, shared through his books, radio programme, and the symbolic imagery associated with Senukai. The resulting works – comprising a sculptural installation and a video piece – combine the aesthetics of indie cinema with digital terrains, observational footage, and the ecstatic confession of a lonely follower.
According to Sosunova, the exhibition serves as a farewell song to a form of capitalism her generation grew up with. By revisiting the transformations of the recent decades, she offers a lens through which to view the contemporary landscape of technofeudalism – a world shaped by new unicorns and entirely different modern-day prophets.
The exhibition “Fandom” by Anastasia Sosunova at the Contemporary Art Centre (Vokiečių st. 2, Vilnius) will be open until May 4th. For more information: www.cac.lt
ANASTASIA SOSUNOVA (b. 1993) is renowned for her significant contributions to Lithuanian and international art contexts. Her practice centres on the multifaceted connections between signs and faith in contemporary society, exploring manifestations of magical thinking and the mobilisation of communities. Sosunova’s work is distinguished by its autoethnographic approach, offering novel perspectives on topics such as the identity of Lithuania’s national minorities (Demikhov Dog, 2017), the discourse of self-help and pseudoscience (Coders, 2022; Express Method, 2021; Detox Siblings, 2019), the coexistence of seemingly incompatible value systems (Tainstvo, 2018; Dance as You Wrestle, Cell Project Space, London, 2022), and activism (Jubilee, 2022).
Her works have been exhibited at major biennials, including Gwangju, Kaunas, and Lyon, and at leading art spaces in countries such as Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Poland, the USA, the UK, and Lithuania. Between 2023 and 2024, Sosunova presented solo exhibitions at Editorial (Vilnius), Galeria Arsenał (Białystok), and eastcontemporary (Milan).
