The annual Young Painter’s Prize has been awarded for the fifteenth time. On Friday 10 November 2023, the Young Painter’s Prize art competition (YPP) has marked its fifteenth anniversary and held the award ceremony which was followed by the opening of the YPP finalists’ group show in the Museum of Applied Art and Design. This year, the main prize went to the Lithuanian artist Agata Orlovska . In his address to the participants of the competition, the YPP jury member Mr. Laurent Le Bon – art historian, the President..


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This year – for the fifteenth time already – the Young Painter Prize (YPP) competition invites the young artists from around the Baltic States to showcase their work. This year, as last year, as an exception, young Ukrainian artists who currently reside in Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia can apply for the competition. Young artists from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine (residing in Baltic countries) are invited to apply to the competition..

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YPP Announces This Year's Best Young Painter in the Baltic States. This year’s winner of the Young Painter Prize competition was announced in Vilnius Picture Gallery on 18 November. For fourteen years now, YPP is continuing to be one of the key events for the young artists from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and, exceptionally this year, Ukraine. The YPP’s international jury announced Linas Kaziulionis as this year’s best young painter in the Baltic states.

 
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I Can’t – But We Can

 

Dear fellow painter, I hereby begin this text by claiming that you are not the one and only cause of your painting. For me this assertion acquires increasingly more importance and clarity. We are affected by environment during creative processes, therefore the resulting artwork is an outcome of these influences as well. Today, while speaking of my own art, I cannot claim that a certain painting or drawing belongs exceptionally to me. I am thankful for everything I created to all those people I meet and all these situations I was involved in. Thus the resulting artwork is always a visual reflection of all these thoughts, discussions, and actions.

The theme of my current reflection is the self-importance of a painter who participates in the competitions such as this one. Participation in such events gives us a chance to interact, reflect on each other’s work and show support, which is extremely important for every aspiring artist.

A painter might think that she is doing all the work while picking up a theme, coining an idea, choosing tools, creating images or defining her field of research. However the final result is only finished thanks to this relation between an artwork, a painter, and a viewer. A competition allows us see all that and progress as artists.

We might recall the soviet times our professors were telling us about, when they felt it necessary to share their work among themselves in the circles of friends and colleagues, thus supporting each other. They used to share their comments actively, even without actually encountering each other’s work directly. This is why, in my view, Lithuania gave birth to so many artist groups: Angis, 24, Keturios, Post Ars, and many more… It means we can always get the necessary feedback not only through participating in the exhibitions, but during the process of painting itself.

I was inspired to think about the fact that an artist is not a sole author of what we call a “final result” when I read an interview with Glen Brown (published in ZOO Magazine) whose reply to a question about “his paintings” was that these paintings were not exactly his. Brown was saying that during the creative process an artist meets various people who have something to say, something to share, and something to discuss. This is how those first viewers/participants get to touch upon and intrude into the process of creation, thus shaping the result accordingly. Therefore, the result does not belong to the hands and mind of a painter alone.

There is always a relation involved. I am absolutely certain that even the smuggest artist needs to be related to those around her, which means that her work is shaped by this relation as well.

Finally, nothing is possible without the divine grace, as it gives me the strength to exhibit the result. After all, we participate in art because we all have hope. And what we receive as a result is the confirmation of this hope. This is what we should be grateful for.

For me, everything started from hunger – this is how I call my sense of curiosity. Hunger is a much wider term, it refers to the desire to touch, explore, and devour the information that hovers in the air around me. The hunger is satisfied by sharing this gift – my talent, if you will – with others. 

I feel like I have to explore painting in order to be touched by grace. I regard painting as a way of thinking, seeing, and communicating. I was not satisfied by mere exploration or play. I wanted to share and communicate, I wanted a feedback. This is why I decided to participate in the 2009 Competition for the Young Painter’s Prize.

I wanted to win. I was surrounded by all these people close to me – tutors, colleagues, etc. At that time I became to be interested in the photo editing software, which reflected on the result. I asked for an advice as to which artwork to choose for the competition. After all, it does matter how I see my work in the context of contemporary painting. I think it is crucial to share one’s work and discuss it. We must create these dialogues both visually and verbally, and it needs to be a sensual communication. Not monologue, but dialogue. A good dialogue is possible while reflecting on anything, including art history, oneself, one’s environment. Articulation is the most important thing. And I learn how to do it every day. My hunger increases with each challenge.

A willingness to participate in a competition already presupposes a certain position. An artist becomes stronger as she strengthens and clarifies her position. Here I recall a saying that one needs courage to paint. One needs courage not only in order to paint, but also in order to ask oneself the question ‘why?’ Not because of some nostalgia for painting, but because one needs to understand why one should paint and perceive the world as an artist today.

The Young Painter’s Prize is a form of communication. We all have an opportunity to communicate, share our findings, ask questions and have a good time in this gathering.

By submitting my artwork for this competition I ask for attention, I want to be heard, and I want to be challenged.

This gathering of painters from all three Baltic States significantly widens the context and unites us all. We might start thinking about our uniqueness as representatives of our countries. This uniqueness is possible through the efforts to reflect on our traditions, our teachers and those close to us, those who help us breathe. 

I am happy that the competition covers all three Baltic countries and I hope that the area of its coverage will expand. In order for this to happen, all of us – organisers, participants, committee members, and sponsors – need to support each other. I can’t do it on my own, but we all can do it together.

 

Andrius Zakarauskas

painter, Young Painter Prize 2009 Winner 

Dailu