Untitled

Everyone agrees that the images of women by Kostas Dereškevičius (b. 1937) are unflattering, and this one is no exception. The artist has accentuated parts of the body that it is not customary (or decent) to accentuate. Maybe by showing what other artists had done before him, he was not attempting at all to sublimate the object (just the opposite!) and pretend that he was motivated solely by aesthetic feelings. This approach does not leave people indifferent. Dereškevičius’ pictures irritate, scandalise and amuse, regardless of whether or not people like them, are interested in them, or are attracted by them. 

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; “The Met Woman: Painting of 1968-1987”, 20 December 2012 – 19 January 2013, “Titanikas” exposition hall of Vilnius Academy of Arts; "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.
© LATGA, Vilnius 2024

Everyone agrees that the images of women by Kostas Dereškevičius (b. 1937) are unflattering, and this one is no exception. The artist has accentuated parts of the body that it is not customary (or decent) to accentuate. Maybe by showing what other artists had done before him, he was not attempting at all to sublimate the object (just the opposite!) and pretend that he was motivated solely by aesthetic feelings. This approach does not leave people indifferent. Dereškevičius’ pictures irritate, scandalise and amuse, regardless of whether or not people like them, are interested in them, or are attracted by them. 

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; “The Met Woman: Painting of 1968-1987”, 20 December 2012 – 19 January 2013, “Titanikas” exposition hall of Vilnius Academy of Arts; "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė.
© LATGA, Vilnius 2024