Augustas Serapinas (*1990 in Vilnius) tells stories of places, people and site specific memories in his installations. By removing the usual properties of specific spaces and objects and attributing new characteristics to them, Serapinas changes our previous perceptions. Through these spatial shifts, he rethinks (in-between) space as a public place and makes visible the institutional, hierarchical or even economic functions resulting from architectural conditions. In many of his works he engages with his country of origin and illuminates facets of Lithuania’s geography, history and culture in subtle and humorous ways. Serapinas’ artistic work is characterized by a spontaneous and above all intense engagement with his immediate surroundings. He often works with people from the neighbourhood and actively involves them in the process of creating his work.
Serapinas uses found materials, such as snow, mud and hay, borrowed objects such as the property of residents in the direct vicinity of the exhibition space and materials purchased at auction such as wooden barns from rural areas or fragments from the wall of a decommissioned nuclear power station. For his first exhibition in the Chesa Madalena in Zuoz, Five Stoves, he acquired five former tiled stoves dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He converted these stoves, which at the time represented an integral and essential part of domestic interiors, into contemporary objects of utility. They can no longer be used for their actual function of heating, but parts of the stoves are still preserved in their original condition. If we shift our perspective, the new function assigned to them by Serapinas becomes apparent in the form of a table or another household object. Serapinas doesn’t just change the property but also the aesthetics of the object and thus directs the focus to the social and political changes in domestic living space.
Augustas Serapinas graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2013 and subsequently completed the Rupert Educational Program in Vilnius. His work has been part of numerous biennials and group exhibitions, including the 57th Biennale di Venezia, Riboca2 and steirischer herbst 22. In addition, his work has been shown in solo exhibitions, for example, at Kunsthalle Wien, SALTS in Birsfelden and CCA in Tel Aviv. Serapinas was awarded ‘Best Artistic Debut of the Year’ by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture in 2014. In 2019, he held the Artist-in-Residency Fogo Island Arts (FIA) in Canada. His work is already represented in renowned public collections such as the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, M HKA, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp , Tate and Centre Pompidou.
