XII Young Painter Prize Book

pression, its projection into the near future,
and the retention of the initial impression.
We can observe that in the context of modernity,
both the past and the future acquire
meaning in the present. As Kristupas
Sabolius observes, “in today’s art world a
common element of uncertainty reveals
both the impossibility of a homogeneous
present and the postulation of the asynchrony
of its different temporalities, while
at the same time raising the problem of
the nature of time itself” 4 .
Let us recall the work of Andrius Zakarauskas
– the first winner of the “Young
Painter Prize”. The issues of painting as
a medium, painting as a gesture (paint,
its application, bright stroke) and the author-artist’s
self-representation (at the
beginning of his career the artist often depicted
his image on canvas) are important
in his work. Since 2016 the artist’s paintings
have displayed a new plastic expression
that is characterised by an excess
paint, splashing, pouring and embossing.
The latter aspects are also reflected in
the titles of his recent paintings, where the
word “stroke” is dominant (visible stroke,
larger stroke, third wave stroke, lip stroke,
caring stroke, pleasant stroke, etc.). Time
is one of the tools that allow us to interpret
the materiality of colour in Zakarauskas’
oeuvre. Such paintings as Lipstroke (2017)
or Skinstroke (2016) function as an outline
of a painting itself: a visible process, the
traces of time, and behind-the-scenes
creation – with the relief of the painting
becoming equated with the stroke itself.
The moment of the painter’s touch on the
canvas is captured: the tactility of the
work opens the viewer to the viewer, highlighting
the elements of corporeality and
ephemerality. The moment of the painter’s
touch on the canvas is captured: the
tactility of the work takes the gaze of the
viewer to the past, highlighting the elements
of corporeality and ephemerality.
1 Claire Bishop, Radical Museology, London: Dan Perjovschi
and Koenig Books, 2013, p. 18.
2 Boris Groys, „Comrades of Time”, in: E-flux journal, 2009,
Nr. 1, http://www.e-flux.com/journal/11/.
3 Saint Augustine, Confessions, Vilnius: Aidai, 2004, p. 281.
4 https://artnews.lt/isivaizduojant-laika-39561