Varkulevičius Eugenijus

There is currently no information about the author. Born in 1956 in Kaunas. From 1967 to 1975 he studied at the J. Naujalis Art School. In 1979 he graduated from the Lithuanian State Institute of Art, where he studied painting. He has been participating in exhibitions since 1983.

In 1982 – 1983 the artist studied Theophanes the Greek, copied 13th century frescoes. In 1983 he lived in Dovainonys, Beržoras, later in Šarnelė. He studied Lithuanian folk painting, restored stations (Stations of the Cross). From 1990 to 1994 he lived and worked in Berlin. He held personal exhibitions in Berlin, Hamburg, Rostock. From 1994 to 2005 he lived in New York. During that time, he starred in experimental films, participated in happenings, festivals, organized personal exhibitions in New York and participated in group exhibitions in Rotterdam, South Korea, Vilnius, Paris, created hand-drawn films. Together with J. Mekas and D. Naujokaitis, he formed the group “Music on the 2nd street” in New York, created music for J. Mekas’ and Julius Ziz’s films, illustrated J. Mekas’ books “My Nights”, “Words and Letters”. The book “My Nights” was recognized as the most beautiful publication of 2007 in Lithuania.

Since 2005, he has lived and worked in Kaunas.

The older generation knows E. Varkulevičius as the author of expressionist, religious-themed canvases marked by existential suffering. The subjectively interpreted famous Beržoras stations, which the artist painted since 1983 while living in Samogitia, in the old street village of Beržoras in the Plungė district, are stuck in the memory of many.

Upon returning to Lithuania, the artist began to paint large-format colorful and emotional poetic abstractions, from which grew a huge cycle of paintings and video installations “Downstream”. This is an improvisational water theme, which is rich in allusions to transience and constant change. Most of these works were born after long walks on the banks of the Nemunas and in Santaka, where the artist observed and filmed flowing water. On the scale of abstractions: minimalist, Japanese-aesthetic, achromatic compositions poured with ink and multilayered works of complex structure. Having mastered the casting technique, the artist experiments with glazes and color spot relationships, varying the possibilities of a spontaneous, spontaneous and rhythmic composition. E. Varkulevičius’s painting has a clear ecological and philosophical line, inviting one to immerse oneself in the poetry of everyday life, in the flow of water and the associations it raises.

In his works of recent years, the artist has tended towards monochrome and chooses a color scheme dictated by nature itself. According to Eugenijus, he draws color ideas from the surface of a simple field stone or bones found somewhere by chance, bird feather ornaments and materials such as clay, soot or ash. In these materials, the painter discovers the harmony of nature, the poetic charm of naturalness and authenticity.