Born 1979, Lithuania
Lives and works in Vilnius (LT)
In the work of Žilvinas Landzbergas the importance of material, colour and light, and the references presented in them, combine to form an indivisible conceptual piece. Landzbergas’s installations transform spaces into situations with their own time and place, where connections between different elements are created according to the logic of tales: the linear narrative is replaced by links of transitions and references that do not provide definitive answers. He also weaves his personal experiences, which remain inaccessible to the viewer, into reflections on and criticism of social and historical contexts in his work.
Landzbergas turns to mythical thought by contemplating their presence in contemporary consumer culture. Cheap, unstable materials, and synthetic colours that introduce elements of kitsch into the general structure of his work are found alongside objects created from natural materials like wood that bespeak an unattainable moment of mythical thought. The mysterious and even sometimes nihilistic mood of Landzbergas’s work is always accompanied by subtle humour and irony, characteristic of postmodern thought.
Exhibitions include: Venice Biennial, Lithuanian Pavilion, 2017
Education
2005-2007 De Ateliers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2002 Summer Art Academy (course of Ylja Kabakov), Salzburg, Austria
2001 University of Plymouth, Faculty of Fine Arts, Exeter, United Kingdom
1998-2003 Academy of Arts, Vilnius, Lithuania
1991-1998 M.K.Ciurlionis – National School of Arts, Vilnius, Lithuania
Awards
2008 Thieme Art Award 2008
Solo exhibitions
2017
57th Venice Biennale, Lithuanian Pavillion
2015
CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania
2013
Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2012
TAG, The Hague, The Netherlands
2011
For Ever Again, kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Riga, Latvia
2009
Art Amsterdam 2009, Rai, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2008
Vine of Hearts (From the young artists exhibition series Yellow Line), Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
2007
60W Magic, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2006
8 p.m., Gallery Agentur, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2005
Arrivals, Modern Art Oxford, United Kingdom
2004
Red in Blue, IBID Projects, Vilnius, Lithuania
Group exhibitions
2019
Kunsthalle Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Studio Blind Matisse, W139, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2018
The Slow Bird, Biennale de Sao Paolo, Sao Paulo, Brasil
Everything was forever, until it was no more, Riga Biennial, Riga, Latvia
2016
About the Trees, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland
2013
Zwischen Zeit und Geschichte, Goethe Institut, Vilnius, Lithuania
(T)Here, collection presentation of Art21, Hedgehouse, Bonnenfantenmuseum, Wijlre, The Netherlands
2012
Group Show, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2011
Vartai 20 Years, Vartai Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
East by South West, Curated By, Vienna, Austria
2010
City without Walls; Vilnius at the Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK
Common Ground, Nieuw Dakota, NDSM terrein, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2009
Frieze Art Fair, London, United Kingdom
Urban stories: The X Baltic Triennial of International Art (Curated by Ann Demeester, Kestutis Kuizinas), CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania
Lunar Distance, Museum De Hallen, Haarlem, The Netherlands
Beyond (Leidsche Rijn, Beeldenpark), Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Artscape: Erwin Wurm and Zilvinas Landzbergas (Snow Export), Vartai Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
2008
Thieme Art Award, Art Amsterdam, Rai Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Decondition, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Placebo, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, Germany
L’Art en Europe (Experience Pommery #5), Domaine Pommery, Reims, France
Down the rabbit hole, Real Artel gallery, Tartu, Estonia
2007
Off-spring, De Ateliers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(1), Galerie Plan B, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2006
Hit-and-Run, Academiegalerie, Utrecht, The Netherlands
103,8 KM, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania
2005
Slow Motion, Exhibition space of Klaipeda, Lithuania
2004
7, Gallery Intro, Vilnius, Lithuania
Boys and Girls, National gallery for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland
2003
2 Show: young Art from Latvia and Lithuania, CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania
Blizge, Meno Projektu Studija, Vilnius, Lithuania