10 Questions with Tomas Lagunavicius

Tomas Lagunavicius considers himself to be a post-matric person who works in various cultural and artistic fields. He understands a post-matric person as someone who can think in different ways depending on the situation and the type of activity chosen. He came to visual art through directing plays and designing sets. Now, it is a separate field of research and activity to which he devotes a lot of time. He has had over 37 solo exhibitions in the visual arts, participated in 56 biennials, exhibitions, and so on, created 39 performances, written 12 books in the field of the arts, etc.

The works presented here show two areas of interest. The first is the contrasting relationship between colors on a white background, how the perception of color changes in relation to other colors, their area, shape, etc. He is particularly interested in the stain's relationship to the painting's other elements. The second group of works is meta cubist works, an attempt to combine elements of different styles on the basis of cubism. Experimenting in the search for new forms of expression in digital art and in acrylic works made on canvas and paper.

ARTIST STATEMENT

“Currently, I work in these three fields. First is post-post pragmatic art, the second is cynical art, and the third is Buddhist art.

Post post cynical art is an art that not only deconstructs the impact that postmodernism has had on the art world, but also reveals the main characteristics of contemporary art. The first characteristic is the image independence. It's not even about whether a work of art is beautiful or ugly; it's about how much the art costs or how much it attracts project funds. Post-post cynical art puts this out there and makes the main object of art not the content but the dimensions of the painting, the material it is made of, the copyright, etc. The price of a work of art has absolutely no relation to what the painting is. It all depends on the circumstances, the place where the art object is exhibited, the curator who curates the exhibition, and other factors.

In Europe and North America, Buddhism underwent, in my opinion, three major phases. During the first phase, when it came out, we tried to accept it as it was. Later, post-Buddhism emerged as a modified form of Buddhism adapted to the contexts of Europe and North America. Now, we have post-post-Buddhism and no longer remember the original sources but modify and edit the legacy of post-Buddhism. In my opinion, post-Buddhism is a very important element of the new culture of Europe and the United States. Maybe we should not call it an element at all; it is more of a function that cannot be removed. Post-post-Buddhism is becoming the operating principle of North American and European consciousness. Compare 100 traditional Buddhist concepts with 100 post-post-Buddhist concepts to see which one is closest to you. Some of the examples are:

Life is suffering (Dukkha) > Life is joy because there is no suffering
The cause of suffering is craving and attachment (Tanha) > The cause of joy is desire without attachment.
Nirvana ends suffering > Joy can be achieved if one relinquishes attachment and choices.
The Eightfold Path is the way to the end of suffering > The Eightfold Path leads to joy.
Right Understanding: Develop a clear understanding of the Four Noble Truths > There are four steps to happiness (Realise what you want, Identify what you do not want, Work towards achieving your goals, Stay away from what you do not want).

Post-post-pragmatic art is the kind of art that focuses on the demands of the market and is created only to fulfill the needs of the market. The artist does not look inside himself for inspiration, thoughts, emotions, or conflicts. The most important thing for him is whether his work can be sold or not. The main motto of post-post pragmatic art is that the image is important or unimportant rather than the subject matter. For example, the themes for 2023/24 are portraits, landscapes, domestic and wild animals, and so on. Post-post-pragmatic art says that we should follow the art market and adapt to it.” - Tomas Lagunavicius

INTERVIEW

Let's talk about yourself first. You define yourself as a "post-matric person." What does it mean? And how does it influence your work?

A post-matrix person does not form a single Self. He has many selves. For me, this helps to avoid one-sidedness. I can form different selves, e.g., painter, director, psychologist, educator, and so on. They can have very different expressions in behavior, dress, and so on. This helps to better empathize with different life situations and to create different behavioral options. A lot of I is freedom.

When and how did you start getting involved with visual arts?

I first met him as a child when I was 3.5 years old. I saw three wonderful Impressionist and Post-Impressionist books at the house of my parents' friend Tadas Kureivas, who was an artist. Since then, I have always been interested in the visual arts. When I was studying directing, we studied stage design practically for three years. We had to draw the scenery ourselves and do the layouts. That's when I got those skills.

You already have a long career, with several exhibitions and experiences. What, for you, is the most enjoyable part of your art? And what has been your favorite experience as an artist so far?

The three most interesting experiences were: my painting was included in the 13th Florence Biennale. Second, my installations were in the Botanical Garden of Vilnius, and third, I managed to sell at the Paris Art Fair. And the greatest pleasure is to combine the images I have created with various performances.

Let's talk about your digital works. Can you explain what your idea is and how you are working on it?

I am currently developing three concepts. The first is post-post cynical art with social positions. I am analyzing trends in the contemporary art market, where the image is becoming less important, and your curator is becoming more important, and which galleries will exhibit your work. Secondly, post-post-Buddhism, where I try to show the differences between Buddhist philosophy and post-post Buddhist philosophy, which is now becoming more and more dominant in Europe and the USA. This is an attempt to show the influence of post-global society on the original Buddhist ideas. Thirdly, post-post pragmatic art is about not creating what I want but creating what the market needs. It's about what color, what storylines so that it's interesting for people to look at. Is it better to make a portrait where the person is looking straight at the viewer, or is it better if the gaze is turned to the side? I am interested in the relationship between human psychology and art. What kind of art should it be in order to be interesting to people? The simple question of why pet imagery is so popular and many other questions.

Where do you find inspiration for your work, and what is your creative process like?

I am interested in creative methodologies and technologies. I have collected over 200 creative techniques. My creative process has three main steps and many small steps. The first step is to decide what my work will be about, e.g., ecology, feminism, art criticism. For this, I have about 50 techniques that I use to find topics that interest me. In the second step, I look for different techniques on how that idea could be best realized. At this stage, I created the first etudes. In the third step, I use about 80 techniques to modify the first etudes, and then I select the ones that I think are the best. The final painting usually goes through five or seven variations of processing with different techniques. My principle is to create a lot so that you can select something.

Why do you use this visual language? And how has it evolved over the years?

The first step was to reflect on the feelings I was experiencing. In the second phase of my work, I was very fascinated by minimalism. In the third stage, I realized that it is important to convey certain philosophical notions. At this point, I am interested in a primary concept, which I use to create a series of paintings that reflect the theme under analysis from different angles. I like to use different techniques and not limit myself to one. I would describe myself as an artist without style.

What do you hope that the public takes away from your work?

What I hope most of all from my recent works is that the public will think critically about the situation of contemporary art. When is there an overproduction of visual art? When there are endless possibilities to create when there are millions of artists around the world. How is art changing and I am trying to answer this question by relating it to different political, economic and similar situations. That's important and interesting to me.

Your work has a very recognizable style, characterized by pop colors and a mixture of elements, both visual and text. How did you come up with this style?

For me, it's always been about colors, which are hard to find in everyday life. I wanted to create my own color world. The second thing that was important to me was the text. I read a lot, and I thought about how I could combine it. And through experimentation, a post-pop text art style emerges, but as I said, I don't want to limit myself to that, so I keep looking for other forms of expression. I'm constantly experimenting and looking at how else I can do it.

What are you working on now, and what are your plans for the future in terms of new projects?

At the moment, I'm most interested in the use of linguistic structures in various areas of post-pop art. How can multiple languages be combined with images in one art object. What new things emerge? And, of course, I'm very interested in further developing the direction of post utilitarian art, in which the art object is created with the aim of maximizing the benefits for all the participants in the art market - the artist, the collector, the gallery. What kind of artwork should this be? I find it interesting to think differently in the interior and collector's art markets and, most importantly, to form my two selves.

Finally, do you have any upcoming shows or collaborations you are looking forward to?

My first dream was to get into a top 100 museum. My second dream is to get into a top 100 gallery. I would like to participate in the top Biennales. I want to become a famous visual artist.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.

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