EXHIBITION "EVERYDAY NOTES. THE OTHER FACE OF JUOZAS ZIKARAS"

Juozas Zikaras – one of the most prominent Lithuanian sculptors of the inter-war period had the honour and an exceptional task to create symbols of Lithuania’s Independence and Statehood. The most important sculptures were located in a newly formed memorial at the War Museum in Kaunas. The sculptor is also known as the author of Lithuanian coins, busts and portraits of public figures, as well as tombstone monuments, secular and religious sculptures.

Juozas Zikaras’ creative success and complicated personal life can be adequately perceived through his drawings. This field of the sculptor’s work is seldom shown and almost unexplored, but they provide us with knowledge about his personal experience, daily routine, artistic discoveries and inspirations.

The sculptor’s legacy of over a hundred drawings is housed at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art and the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. They provide important peculiarities of different creative stages which are closely linked to the cities where he lived: a short period in Vilnius (1904–1906), studies and life in St Petersburg (1906–1918), creation and pedagogical work in Panevėžys (1918–1929) and Kaunas (1929–1944).

Organisers of this exhibition invite visitors to have a look at Juozas Zikaras' drawings, to grasp various aspects of the artist's everyday life and consider his – a sculptor’s – other frame of mind. Special attention is paid to Mr. Zikar's creative inspirations, new ideas that did not reach the eyes of the audience. Reflections of symbolism can be seen in his drawings, and the influence of monumental Egyptian art can be felt. A number of the most relevant drawings leads the viewer along the paths of Zikaras’ future city:  rows of “faceless” blocks of flats, smoking chimneys and darkness all around reveal links to the future. A theme of the past in Zikaras’ drawings is associated by disappearing architectural objects against the background of the night. The exhibition presents small-format drawings of natural objects, some of which are distinguished by a new drawing technique that has not been used in the sculptor's drawings before.

Juozas Zikaras' creative inspirations are supplemented in the exhibition with the drawings from his study years, among them – male nudes and sketches for the sculptures of the 1920s – female nudes. This juxtaposition appeared not by chance. The sculptor was constantly criticised for his academic manner in sculpture, although his inner world was much deeper and more varied, influenced by the environment.

Artist Juozas Zikaras is an exceptional personality in the world of art, whose whole life was akin to Lithuania's complicated path towards the consolidation of Statehood. A variety of drawings and sketches in the context of these events brings to light the sculptor's creative potential reflecting the path of the artist himself. This field of art happened to be a more intimate way of self-expression, a diary, allowing us to cognize a unique artistic individuality – sculptor Juozas Zikaras.