Andrius Zakarauskas’s exhibition “Double”

The works presented in Andrius Zakarauskas’s exhibition “Double” reveal doubling as a conscious artistic method, one that unsettles the static image and explores the idea of an image within an image. It is a strategy the artist has been developing consistently, allowing him to produce a tremor in the image, optical tension, and the illusion of movement. By placing two close, and at times identical, elements side by side, the image begins to pulse, as if existing between two states. Through doubling, the artist does not freeze a specific moment; instead, he expands it, making visible not only the result but the very process of movement and becoming.

Zakarauskas constructs his works as symbolic maps of stains and marks. Each mark becomes a sign with its own direction, weight, and intensity, while their totality unfolds as a topographical structure in which the viewer’s gaze moves among recurring forms, gradually deciphering their content. The motifs, most often portraits or fragments of them, and their symbolism may be recognizable, yet they are constantly shifting, duplicating, and overlapping. The narratives often subtly refer to the Christian tradition—themes of suffering, sacrifice, resurrection, or doubt. These visual references, embedded in an abstract structure, are not literal illustrations of a plot, nor do they follow strict iconographic schemes; rather, they function as markers of memory, sensitively conveying personal—and at the same time universal—stories and their emotional charge.

An important aspect of the exhibition is the relationship between the painterly gesture made by hand and the brushstroke reproduced by a machine in a photograph. A mechanical, algorithmically precise sign comes into contact with a living, bodily, uneven, textured brushstroke. In this interaction, a dialogue emerges between control and chance, between digital logic and physical touch. Doubling brings the difference into focus: a form generated by a machine can be reproduced almost identically, whereas the gesture of the hand always remains unique, preserving its distinctive, imperfect rhythm and the possibility of error.

At the same time, the exhibition continually tests the relationship between the real and the fake. Is what we see an authentic gesture, or its simulation? Does the symbol arise from tradition, or is it created anew each time? Here, a space opens for doubt: reality and fiction, faith and its imitation, original and copy exist side by side, often difficult to distinguish, yet constantly reflecting and questioning one another. In this sense, Double refers not only to the principle of visual repetition, but also hints at the duality of events and narratives, impressions and experiences that surrounds us today.

Text by Justina Augustytė.

Andrius Zakarauskas (b. 1982) is a painter. In 2010, he completed his MA in painting at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. Since 2016, he has been teaching in the Painting Department of the Kaunas Faculty of the Vilnius Academy of Arts. Since 2004, he has participated in exhibitions and international contemporary art fairs in Europe and the United States. Since 2005, he has held solo exhibitions in Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Italy, and China. He is the winner of the Young Painter Prize competition (2009) and the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture’s Young Creator Award (2011). His works have been acquired by the European Central Bank, the Noewe (Lewben) Art Foundation, the MO Museum, the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, and private collections.

The exhibition opens on March 26 at 5:30 p.m. at the Angel Museum – Sacred Art Center (Vilniaus St. 11, Anykščiai). The exhibition runs until April 21.