The solo exhibition Steel Compounds by Vladas Urbanavičius presents the sculptor’s most recent works, which reveal his solutions to the search for materiality and the search for site-specific art. The artist’s work explores the limits of abstract sculpture, the possibilities of scale in space, and the relationship of the work to its environment and its perceiver. Large-scale steel constructions, created specifically for the (AV17) space, overwhelm and, one could say, overcome the gallery. The monumental sculptures, which barely fit in space, reveal author’s extreme attention to the materials used, his subtle sense of form and plastic. By combining various pieces of scrap metal and objects found, the author highlights their importance, conveying both the unique form and the story behind it. The old industrial steel, influenced by time, gives the works a distinctive character and often inspires completely non-technical, conceptual structures. Vladas Urbanavičius invites us to read these stories and analyse our relationship to them in the exhibition Steel Compounds.
Vladas Urbanavičius (1951) – sculptor, 1977 graduated from sculpture studies at the Art Institute (now the Vilnius Academy of Arts). Since 1978 he participated in exhibitions and outdoor sculpture symposiums in Lithuania. The sculptor has been recognized with awards and prizes: the Lithuanian National Culture and Art Prize (2015), the III Prize of the Vilnius Telecenter Defenders Monument Competition (1991), the I Prize at the Lithuanian Contemporary Art Quadrennial (2005), the Golden Mark of the Lithuanian Artists’ Union (2006). The author’s works have been acquired by private and museum collections in Lithuania and beyond.
