The exhibition "Travelling Imagination" presents a part of Stasys Eidrigevičius' collection of book illustrations, which the artist donated to the Stasys Eidrigevičius Art Centre. The exhibition features works created for Vytautė Žilinskaitė's book "Journey to Tandadrik" (1984), Jose Murillo's "My Friend the Owl" (1986) and Rita Repšienė's "Fairy Tales" (2008).
Exclusive exhibition architecture of the travelling exhibition. The construction of the house, made of bright "Stasiski" colours and neon lights, invites the viewer to get acquainted not only with Stasys's work but also with his colourful personality.
A rainbow made of bodies; birds tied with wings; a cat catching a frightened snake with its stick and tail; a bunny losing its right ear in a tear in the canvas; a bunch of flowers clutching a miniature dog; scissors snipping a pale face; a child wrapped in tape; babies tangled in a fairy's hair; a howler biting a spindle; a frog holding tight to a rainbow trying to escape... It seems that none of the characters created by Stasys Eidrigevičius, presented in the exhibition, can exist as a separate or isolated body. They "work" here only when intertwined with other works or objects. All of them, both the characters and the various objects, are fused into an indivisible whole. Maybe the artist is reflecting on the ecosystem of nature and man, that unbroken chain? Objects and creatures support each other. The intertwined thread of the subjects depicted in the drawings reflects the indivisible, inseparable friendship, belonging or dependence on each other, as well as the suffering reflected in the motifs of restraint, compression, binding.
The motif of restraint is very important in Stasys' work. He also reflects on his childhood in rural isolation from society, culture, childish "real" entertainment, and life under socialist oppression. However, the title of the exhibition, "Travelling Imagination", allows the viewer to break free from the shackles depicted in the illustrations. It allows us to escape, to immerse ourselves in our own fantasy journey, to go beyond all possible boundaries where mythological, anthropomorphic beings exist. The word "travels" is also a reference to the biographical aspects of Stasys, who lived from childhood in various Lithuanian villages and towns until he finally emigrated to Warsaw in 1980, where he still lives today.
Of course, without the authors of the books, there would be none of these illustrations. If you have read even one of Stasys' illustrated books, you must have noticed that the artist does not directly depict what we read. According to Stasys, before creating illustrations, he always discusses them with the authors of the texts, who, like Vytautė Žilinskaitė, open up an even wider field for his imagination, instead of closing or stifling it.
