28 January 2019

‘An Architect Without Architecture? A Retrospective of Valdas Ozarinskas’ at Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius

Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Architectural model for a private house ‘Vila Jogaila’, 1994
‘An Architect Without Architecture? A Retrospective of Valdas Ozarinskas’ at Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Architectural model for a private house ‘Vila Jogaila’, 1994

Valdas Ozarinskas (1961–2014) was an architect and artist, and one of the most remarkable representatives of interdisciplinary art and conceptual architecture in Lithuania. Over the course of three decades, Ozarinskas was prolific and multifarious in his work; he designed exhibitions, interiors, private houses and public commissions, theatre and event productions, produced fashion collections, art installations and videos, edited publications, curated exhibitions of work by the Private Ideology group and organised music and art events.

Valdas Ozarinskas. Diploma work, Vilnius State Institute of Art, Department of Architecture, 1986
Architectural models and drawings for competitions of churches, 1988–1989. Photographs by Gintautas Trimakas
Valdas Ozarinskas. Architectural model for a private house, c. 1991
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė, Viktoras Kormilcevas. Proposal for the community center on the left bank of Neris, Vilnius, 1993
Found objects, some of which were used as prototypes for architectural proposals between 1991 and 2006
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Architectural model for a gas station, 1995 (photographs by Gintautas Trimakas, c. 1995) and proposal for a high rise office building, 1998
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Architectural model for a gas station, 1995 (photographs by Gintautas Trimakas, c. 1995
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Architectural model for a gas station, 1995
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. ‘Vila Jogaila’, 1994–1995

In the context of Lithuanian design and architecture, Ozarinskas occupies a unique place as an artist with a distinct ideological and aesthetic vision, usually defined as brutal utilitarianism. This vision embodied the tendencies of interdisciplinarity and conceptualism that had been slowly seeping into the fields of art, design and architecture since the 1980s; on the other hand, it also transcended the boundaries between the disparate spheres and scopes of design, such as household décor and the war industry, thus also embodying the challenges faced by a country going through socioeconomic transition and the modes of operation determined by it. His best-known architectural works were the iconic Lithuanian pavilion for the international EXPO 2000 exhibition in Hannover, designed with the Private Ideology group, of which he was a member, and the stylised, rough militarised interiors for the bars NATOʼs and Full Metal Jacket.

Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Architectural model for the EXPO 2000 pavilion, second version, 1999
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Sketches, parts of modified airplane models: preparatory work towards the competition of the Lithuanian Pavilion at the international exhibition EXPO 2000 in Hannover, 1998
Private Ideology Group. Architectural model of the EXPO 2000 pavilion, 1999, photographed by Gintautas Trimakas
Private Ideology Group. Lithuanian Pavilion at EXPO 2000 pavilion in Hannover, 2000, photographed by Gintautas Trimakas
Exhibition view: Techno Translations
Exhibition view: Techno Translations
Exhibition view: Techno Translations
Exhibition view
Frank Zappa monument, Vilnius, 1995. Sculpture by Konstantinas Bogdanas Senior, architecture by Valdas Ozarinskas

His entry into the visual arts coincided with the rise of the process-based exhibition and video performance (that followed the first performance art events) and he went on to participate in the first large-scale curated group exhibitions, as an artist and an exhibition designer. The strong performative aspect of some of his most recent works – Romas Ubartas and The Black Pillow – helped establish his unique place in the history of conceptual and performance art in Lithuania. All in all Ozarinskas staged around ten solo exhibitions and took part in more than fifty group projects, and was a recipient of the Hansabank art prize in 2007.

Valdas Ozarinskas. Series of portraits for the installation “Good Steel-2”, 1995
Valdas Ozarinskas. Chair for the Vilnius office of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, 2002
Exhibition view: Interior Design
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Furniture and interior design for the bar “Full Metal Jacket”, Vilnius, 1996, including photographs by Gintautas Trimakas (interior views) and Valdas Ozarinksas (man’s torso)
Exhibition view: Cinema
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Central European Men, fashion show, 2001, photographed by Dimitrijus Matvejevas
Valdas Ozarinskas. Collection of workwear, c. 2000–014
Valdas Ozarinskas. Suitcases designed for the project “PR 04 (A Tribute to the Messenger)” in Puerto Rico, 2004
Valdas Ozarinskas. Reconstruction of the CAC’s downstairs foyer, 2006
Exhibition view
Valdas Ozarinskas. Reconstruction of the CAC’s downstairs foyer, 2006
Valdas Ozarinskas, Aida Čeponytė. Central European Men, fashion show, 2001 (exhibition view)

“An Architect without Architecture?” provides an overview of nearly three decades of this extraordinary artist and architect’s work. It is the first opportunity to see his relatively recent work alongside some of his early projects, and a rare occasion to draw analogies between his work across various fields.

Imprint

ArtistValdas Ozarinskas
ExhibitionAn Architect Without Architecture? A Retrospective of Valdas Ozarinskas
Place / venueContemporary Art Centre, Vilnius
Dates23 November 2018 – 13 January 2019
Curated byVirginija Januškevičiūtė, Part 4 is curated with Jurga Daubaraitė and Jonas Žukauskas
PhotosAndrej Vasilenko
Websitewww.cac.lt/en
Index

See also