Feet in the Sand

Born in Kaunas, 1962 11 04.

In 1980 graduated from J.Naujalis Art School (specialization: music)

In 1984 graduated from Klaipėda Conservatory (specialization: event directing)

In 1992 graduated from Vilnius Academy of Arts (specialization: painting)

In 1995 became a member of the Lithuanian Artists’ association.

Vytautas Žirgulis has participated in multiple exhibitions and plen airs in Lithuania and foreign countries. 18 personal exhibitions in total.

The artist lives and creates in Vilnius, Lithuania. He works with easel and wall paintings. On top, Vytautas Žirgulis teaches drawing, painting, and composition in National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art.

"Personally, I can describe my painting style as magical realism. Thus I look for inspiration in daily life, where I search for mundane things but give them a different meaning. Real images, people and events have to exist for me. Through them, I find (sometimes I don’t) the ideas for my paintings, which are very important in my work. Also, the plot is crucial as well. Some literary aspects can be seen in my work too. It helps me find a way to painting‘s composition, colour choice, lightning, and else. I really appreciate oil painting because of its depth and saturation. As the surface doesn‘t dry for a long time, I can achieve subtle nuances and soft contours and form objects’ shapes, lightning, and glazes.

Art critic Ignas Kazakevičius writes about me: „The symbol system created by the artist is anthropomorphic. States and emotions are expressed with depersonalized but characteristic faces which are lightly covered in paint‘s veil. Artist‘s phantasies link with the state of sleep. Images kaleidoscopically change and blur the vision. So chamber figures can become fluorescent chimaeras and disappear into blue space in no time. But Vytautas Žirgulis’s painting has much more than literary plot and symbolism. Skilful painting is an integral part of an artist’s storytelling. When painting, Vytautas Žirgulis, step by step, thinks of who or what will enter his paintings. We encounter not only timeless impressions but also a relationship between tangible forms.”