Gallery "The Rooster Gallery" and artist Tomas Daukša present a new project "Kuriu Vilnių" - in New City, Algirdo str. two snowmen settled in the square near the "Oslo House". This sculptural group "Nauja karta" is part of the artist's project for several years. Snowman figurines are already well known not only to gallery visitors in Lithuania, but also on the international art scene. The "Kuriu Vilnių" program was initiated and supported by the Vilnius municipality.
"Despite the playful, attractive form, this project is a serious artistic study," says T. Daukša. - It considers the difference between belief and knowledge. I am interested in the moment when what is believed becomes certain. An example of such a transformation could be in popular TV shows and documentaries about mystical, paranormal phenomena, including the same snowmen, the testimonies of people who encountered them are presented. However, in the end, this opposition between real and fake loses its relevance and the object itself and the narrative it creates become the most important thing."
The artist offers two versions of the appearance of the figurines: according to the first, the figurines were found by a person who believed that they were made and left by a snowman. He began trading figurines for food and thus amassed quite a collection of snowmen of various sizes and colors; the second version of the origin of the sculptures claims that the artist creates the objects himself, but says that he received them from a person who claims that they were a gift from a snowman.
The artist presents himself both as the author of these artifacts and as an intermediary between the viewer and the mysterious beings who created the sculptures.
In the sculptures, various situations from the daily life of snow people are created, revealing more and more data about their daily activities, rituals, family ties, communal hierarchy, mutual communication, etc. details of life. Viewers are also encouraged to create their own stories about the life of the mysterious snowmen from hints and fragments.
The snow people project became one of the objects of T. Daukša's art doctoral research. in 2019 after completing his doctoral studies at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, the artist became one of the youngest people to receive a doctorate in art in Lithuania. Having started his creative activity with painting, in the last years the artist creates sculptural objects and conducts conceptual research. Naujamiestis sculptures are the artist's first work in public space.
The Rooster Gallery, which represents the artist, works with young artists, including both emerging creators and established artists of the young generation in the field of contemporary art. Having started its activity more than a decade ago, the gallery first exclusively represented painters, but as its activities expanded, its artists' team was supplemented by creators of other art forms.
