Paulius Šliaupa
Born in 1990 in Lithuania, works and lives in Brussels (B)
About the Artist
Having started with painting, he currently works with video and photography. Paulius holds a BA in Painting, an MA in Contemporary Sculpture from Vilnius Academy of Arts, an MFA in Media Arts from KASK, and a postgraduate degree from the HISK residency program in Ghent, Belgium.
He is a member of SOFAM in Belgium and received their research grant in 2022. The same year, he won the first prize of the ArtContest. In 2023, he won the main prize of the INPUT / OUTPUT in Bruges. Over the past years, Šliaupa has participated in art residencies in Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Iceland.
His works are in the collections of museums M HKA, Antwerp, Mu.ZEE, Ostend, IKOB, Eupen, and SMAK, Ghent. Selected exhibitions would include personal exhibitions: “Night watch“ (2022), Huiden Club in Rotterdam, Netherlands, “Moonpieces” (2022) Maanstraat in Antwerp, “Neon Poems“ (2021) Casinot XXH in Malmo (Sweden); “Dès Vu“ (2019), Meno Niša in Vilnius (Lithuania); and the group exhibitions M Leuven, IKOB in Eupen.
ARTCONTEST WINDOW - AFTER NATURE
ArtContest and Michèle Schoonjans are pleased to present the installation "After Nature” by the Lithuanian artist Paulius Šliaupa, winner of the 2022 ArtContest, who has just completed his residency at the Centre Intermondes in La Rochelle.
An active member of ArtContest since 2007, Michèle Schoonjans is offering her gallery as a display for ArtContest during the summer of 2024.
The exhibition showcases a film and paintings which explore the blurring of boundaries between nature and culture, human and non-human, and invites viewers to explore atmospheric landscapes and abstract artefacts. In this context,
The exhibition "After Nature" features a new film by Paulius Šliaupa, titled "Gaia", which depicts the goddess of nature performing rituals at the seaside of La Rochelle. The film was created during his stay in La Rochelle, where the rich history and remnants of the past - such as ancient oyster beds and wartime bunkers - serve as a backdrop to spark imagination.
The paintings in the exhibition "After Nature" showcase natural structures from various perspectives, layered through time, with Šliaupa meticulously building up each piece by observing and blending elements like soil, sand, moss, and more. The result is abstract artefacts that blur the lines between organic and inorganic forms, inviting viewers to explore the atmosphere and narratives within.
Paulius Šliaupa's upbringing in a family of geologists instilled in him a deep appreciation for nature, which is reflected in his work. His rural village of Barteliai in Lithuania, with its small population of five, serves as a peaceful retreat where he can draw inspiration from the surrounding landscape and combine it with motifs from his travels, bringing together disparate images and atmospheres to create vibrant canvases, painted in the countryside.
