Denisas Kolomyckis | Salò meets Dionysus | 27/4-8/5/2021

VAA textile gallery Artifex (Gaono str.1, Vilnius)

You know, I always get confused when thinking about why and who needs it all.
When I was a teenager, I first saw Piero Passolini's film “Salò, or 120 Days of Sodom” (‘Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma’), sent to me by Russian theater director Greta Šuščevičiūtė. I was intimidated, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Disgust and insanity portrayed in the movie – I didn’t even realize for a moment that this was a movie, it seemed so real. I was scared that someone dared to talk about it and so boldly. When people say they like to watch horror films – I always remember this art-work. I clearly understood the the fictional film narrative is more real than reality itself. The feeling of fear and disgust, as well as admiration or constructive analysis while watching a film, brings me closer to my personal perceptions and the ability to dare to speak or show something that is non-conceptual in one way or another.
My baptismal name is Dionysus. So it’s Denisas Dionysus. Babushka Sonia (Sofia) took me to the church of Constantine and Michael in Vilnius and baptized me secretly without my mother’s permission. Batiushka took my hand and poured the water on my head, then took me to the iconostasis, and walked me along the semicircular path. From that time until the critical perception of adulthood, I am Dionysus, a descendant of the God of wine, theater, and pleasures. Practicing theater, feasting and healing my addictions to wine – a homosexual ascetic who has no pleasures.
This exhibition is about facing criticism, mostly personal, but influenced by the field of contemporary art, about unpretentious conversations with friends through personal stories and pretentious position through the artwork.
There will be letters and objects, stories told via emails, questions and answers, and unevenly displayed works. All of them speak of a social, personal or political element. My choice to emphasize individual, but at the same time related stories, is a conscious move. The space was also chosen purposefully – I realized that textile and processing the element of reproduction guide my self-expression and relative principle of operation. The fact that there is little space, and only one person at a time can be there – is an advantage in my case. Only after getting acquainted with the annotations of the works, by reading the letters and individually observing the works, an intimate dialogue between the observer and the observed is possible in the format of this exhibition.
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Denisas Kolomyckis’ art – exceptional plasticity – determines that the artist’s work is closely related  to dance. However, Denisas is a creative vagabond wandering through different media, and his main creative realm is theater rather than dance. The intensity and positive inconsistency of Denisas’ work suggests dilettantism, but it is only possible when the work is accompanied by pretentiousness. In Denisas’ case, no matter how ephemeral the works or the use of one creative expression seem, everything is a playful interpretation of the world, without claiming to please conceptual or formal      canon. And, as banal as it may sound (almost like an electionoral promise), the love for humankind, makes Denisas a rare and highly political artist. He speaks directly about one of society's biggest flaws –  the lack of social justice. – Emilija Švobaitė, Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association.
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Denisas Kolomyckis – student of the Department of Sculpture at Vilnius Academy of Arts. In 2020 he became the winner of the Young Creator Award of the Ministry of Culture. In 2021 artist been awarded with prestigious M. K. Čiurlionis scholarship.