Aidas Bareikis (born October 4, 1967) is a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n artist, currently working in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Bareikis studied at the

Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts The Vilnius Academy of Arts ( lt, Vilniaus dailės akademija, previously ''State Art Institute of Lithuania'') in Vilnius, Lithuania, grants a variety of degrees in the arts. History The Academy traces its roots back to the creation of the Arc ...

between 1987 and 1992. His previous attempt at finishing art school in Vilnius was interrupted when he was drafted by the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

and sent to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, where he saw gunfighting, injured soldiers of war, and caskets, before inflicting delirium on himself through sleep deprivation and the inhalation of

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...

powder. In 1993 he received a scholarship and moved to America. Between 1993 and 1997 he studied at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, graduating with an MFA. In 2000 he exhibited at the Berlin Contemporary Art Center and at the Eleni Koroneou Gallery in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. In 2004 he showcased his artwork at the Miller Durazo Gallery in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He showed at Leo Koenig Gallery, and Happy Lion Gallery. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' describes his work as "sprawling, grotesque yet artfully color-coordinated messes of found objects, paint, wax, foam, plastic, scrap wood and many other materials. His installations have an impressive physical impact; but, with one exception, there is a formless one-note monotony about them."

References

1967 births Living people Artists from Vilnius Hunter College alumni Lithuanian expatriates in the United States Vilnius Academy of Arts alumni {{Lithuania-artist-stub

See also

References