About the artist
AZARTGET (Antanas Zabielavicius) is a contemporary artist from Vilnius, Lithuania, whose works reimagine global phenomena with fresh and unexpected perspectives. By transforming his deeply engaging installations into museum-quality art prints, AZARTGET bridges the gap between artist and audience, making thought-provoking contemporary art accessible to everyone.
Photo by Debora Morkūnaitė.
From the Author
The silent meadow before my studio window had been ground to mere dust. A single bed was filled with pieces of dried bread in virus time, and thousands of handmade projectiles were sculpted from water and earth during the war in Ukraine.
I have transformed these activities into sustainable installations that eventually returned to nature. I aim to capture experiences shaped by contemporary changes, using every possible medium to unveil ideas. My artwork is conceptual, where creative actions are fundamental for me. It is my views and responses to our time's challenges, such as ecological issues, brutal wars and swift progress, future perspectives. It's more than pointing out issues; it's about valuing potential solutions and shaping a better future.
For some years, I have collaborated closely with the Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center and its NBA (non budget art) platform, a hub for art experiments and avant-garde in Vilnius.
Mapping Our Losing Meanings: A Blueprint for Tomorrow.
AZARTGET (Antanas Zabielavicius), a contemporary creator from the cultural crossroads of Vilnius, Lithuania, was born in 1974. Far from being a quiet artist, he is a vibrant alchemist of ideas, known for his startling depth, crystalline purity, and unvarnished authenticity. His artistic arsenal is as diverse as it is profound, spanning multiple media to breathe life into his visions. Yet one thing remains consistent in his work: his cyclical philosophy of creation. He borrows elements and inspirations from the fabric of contemporary surroundings, only to return them — perceived and with a new sense — back into the world from which they came. He says, 'Art is three letters borrowed from other words.'
Embark on AZARTGET's audacious journey, a quest ignited by an unquenchable "Desire for New Meanings." It is no armchair critique or scholarly debate; it's a visceral plunge into the desolate terrains of social desertification and cultural wastelands. AZARTGET doesn't merely diagnose the decay; he sketches the blueprints for its metamorphosis.
Social desertification is a dynamic, corrosive, constant process that erodes connections, values, and meanings. It's not solely about what's lost but what's been neglected and can still be transformed into new. But here's the kicker: AZARTGET posits that the future isn't some distant horizon; it's right under our feet, waiting to be discovered in every fleeting moment. It is a diagnosis and an invitation simultaneously to seize the present as a blueprint for a future we actively shape.
In a world reluctant to change until the status quo becomes unbearable, AZARTGET is a catalyst, accelerating the beginning of future-making. He doesn't merely map these 'lost cultures'; he offers a telescope for the soul, a fresh perspective to scrutinize our frenetic, ever-changing world.
This narrative transcends individual artistry to engage with the socio-cultural, economic, and ecological issues. It's about the human story, in all its messy, glorious complexity, adapting and evolving in real-time. So, are you merely a spectator, or are you ready to step into the arena?
Prof. Gregory Wide