Mindaugas Skudutis studied at Kaunas Juozas Naujalis Secondary School of Art from 1964-1968. In 1976 he graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts (former LSSR State Art Institute), from 1977 to 1987 he worked as a teacher at the Čiurlionis School of Arts, from 1989 to 2011 as a lecturer at the Vilnius Academy of Arts; professor (2007). In the 1980s and 1990s, together with artists Bronius Gražis, Henrikas Natalevičius, Raimundas Sližis and Romanas Vilkauskas, he formed one of the first unofficial groups of artists "Penketas". Since 1989 he has been a member of the Lithuanian Artists' Union.
Creates figurative compositions, self-portraits, still lifes, drawings, collages and assemblages. He paints on religious subjects. The artist's more notable paintings include: "Red Shirt" (1974), "Evening Walk in the Old Town" (1978), "Girls" (1979), "Black Square on a Black Background" (1979), "Metabolist Painting" (1980), "Self-Portrait / 33 Years" (1981), and "Chimeras of Magdeburg Cathedral" (1982), "King and Queen (1982), Evening (Self-Portrait) (1984), Twelve Views of Old Vilnius (1985), Windy Day by the Sea (1986), Funeral (1986), Rustic Interior (1986), Nest (1989), Self-Portrait (1996), Stations of the Road of Christ (2002-2003). In 1979 and 1982 he participated in the 1st and 2nd Baltic Young Artists' Triennials, and in 2007 - in the 13th Baltic Painting Triennial.
He illustrated the following books: "Gylys" (1982) by Ethelė Liliana Voynich, "Kaimas kryzkelėje" (1988) by Jonas Avyžius, "Burning" (1988) by Jonas Avyžius.
Jointly with the art historian Vidas Poškums, he has published the book "Videniškiai. In the spring of 2023, on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Vilnius, a solo exhibition "Changing Faces of Vilnius" was held at the Vilnius Children's and Youth Art Gallery. The artist participates in exhibitions abroad.
M. Skudutis's works are held by the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, the Museum of Vilnius Academy of Arts, the MO Museum in Vilnius, the St. Mary Magdalene Church (Kretinga district), Tartu Catholic Church (Estonia), Vilnius University Library, private collectors in Lithuania and abroad. He has published the following polemical articles in the republican press: "About Art and Science Once Again" ("Kultūros barai", 2007), "Summer Plein-Air" ("Ziemeļ Atėnai", 2008), "What is Art" ("Kultūros barai", 2009), "We Didn't Learn the History Lessons" ("Kultūros barai", 2009).
Skudutis's work has been awarded with the following prizes: the Baltic Art Exhibition Medal (1979), the Lithuanian Artists' Union Prize and the Golden Badge (2005), the Lithuanian Government Culture and Art Prize (2009).
The artist was awarded the Vilnius Mayor's Prize for the commemoration of Vilnius in artworks in 2010.
The artist lives in Vilnius. One of the main themes of his paintings is Vilnius and its everyday life. The author uses his paintings not only to tell the stories of the city dear to him, but also his own life through them. The Old Town of Vilnius, especially the Užupis district, still fascinates the artist with its architecture and characters, and the artist enjoys the last familiar sights of the disappearing city from the gaze of an observer, with the stories, angles, details, and the unique architecture of the courtyards rapidly changing in front of his eyes. Skudutis can be called a chronicler of Vilnius, recording its increasingly disappearing features, its changing face, character and inhabitants, small and large absurd situations, everyday events that seem insignificant but create the unique mood of Vilnius Old Town. The artist said: "Now I paint almost exclusively landscapes of Vilnius, I paint until I find abandoned, unpainted corners, because such places are becoming scarce. It seems that soon I won't have any motifs for my paintings"
