27 October 2025

Exhibition “Darius Bastys: essere o non essere?”

Darius Bastys was born in 1967 in the village of Kaimelis, Šakiai district. From 1985 to 1993, he studied sculpture at the Vilnius Art Institute (now the Vilnius Academy of Arts). He is one of the pioneers of Lithuanian interdisciplinary art in the 1970s. He is also one of those who pushed the concept of sculpture towards the “object”. Many visitors to contemporary art exhibitions remember the objects created by D. Bastys in the 1990s – giant “duplicates” of children’s toys or household objects made of straw and canvas, as well as other “unprecious” materials.

In the second half of the first decade of the 21st century, tired of sculptural objects, D. Bastys began to paint. Partly for self-therapeutic purposes. But he did it in a unique style, balancing between classical painting and kitsch, between realism and surrealism, professionalism and a “naïve” style. At first, Bastys painted individual objects—a doll, a toy bear, a Pinocchio sculpture, a bouquet of flowers, a skull, a pinocchio, and a skull, etc. Over time, the “narrative” dimension of the paintings became more complex and profound. However, the duality of content and form in his paintings remained, which could also be attributed to pastiche. Perhaps this specific ambivalence creates the viscous, phantasmagorical, dreamlike atmosphere of D. Bastys’ paintings. D. Bastys’ retrospective covers the period from 2007 to 2025. D. Bastys’ work paradoxically shows that conscious “unfashionability”, the rejection of pretense and “unoriginality” can be particularly original!

The exhibition will open on November 4 at 6 p.m. in the 5^th floor atrium of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania.

The exhibition will be open to library visitors from November 4, 2025 to December 31, 2025.

Exhibition curator Kęstutis Šapoka

Graphic designer Akvilė Paukštytė

Exhibition architect Algirdas Jakas

Exhibition displayed by Algirdas Jakas, Žilvinas Baranauskas

Briefly about the exhibition

Date

exhibition opening – November 4 at 6 p.m.
November 4–December 31

Time

library working hours

Place

5th floor atrium

Attendance

free

More information

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Important

the event may be photographed and/or filmed.