Elena Narbutaitė. For a Soft Ass, 2022. Installation view at PM8/Francisco Salas, Vigo. © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; PM8/Francisco Salas.
Elena Narbutaitė is a Lithuanian artist, a sculptor (Vilnius, 1984) who has a consistent career developed rigorously for more than ten years. Trough her practice Elena Narbutaitė has shown a strong maturity and an extreme sensitivity which echoes in her beautiful and enigmatic projects and pieces (from some of her early solo shows like the beautiful Roberts presented at the extinct Tulips & Roses in Brussels, 2012 to the work we are doing together at PM8/Francisco Salas with her shows at the gallery but also with her solo presentations at Liste Art Fair, Basel, 2018; Frieze New York, 2020; FIAC, 2021 and the upcoming Frieze London-Focus, 2022).
Elena Narbutaitė often collaborates with other artists like Rosalind Nashashibi, Gintaras Didžiapetris, Liudvikas Buklys or Dalia Dudenaitė among others.
Some of her words might help to understand how she approaches her formal choices: “Decay and change is a phenomena which gives more light to my consciousness than the idea of permanency. Just like a person who dies from being very old who almost vanishes into the air leaving her / his intelligence instead of a sign. At the same time I consider paper one of the most modern inventions, unlike electronics ( which I admire too) paper still wins for being light, mobile, penetrable by weather conditions and still surviving.”
“I have been looking for the sharpest but lightest, most mobile but capable of large scale material to make a work I had in mind. One friend suggested to look for modern, contemporary matter, to look at science and think compactly. I was already researching various manifestations of the electricity phenomenon in culture and in science and it led me to discover Lasers. The answer to the quiz was found. From my first acquaintance with the qualities of a laser, I was certain to have found the material that I was looking for a long time”.
Limitless Thoughts Box, 2022. Laser and box. Unique. For a Soft Ass installation view at PM8/Francisco Salas, Vigo. © Elena Narbutaitė 2022. Image: courtesy the artist; PM8/Francisco Salas.
Beribės Mintys (Limitless Thougts), 2022. Folded Paper. Unique. Image © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; PM8/Francisco Salas.
Beribės Mintys (Limitless Thougts) series, 2022. Folded Paper. Unique. Image © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; PM8/Francisco Salas.
Limitless Thoughts Box, 2022. Laser and box. Unique. For a Soft Ass installation view at PM8/Francisco Salas, Vigo. Image © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; PM8/Francisco Salas.
Elena Narbutaitė. For a Soft Ass, 2022. Installation view at PM8/Francisco Salas, Vigo. Image © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; PM8/Francisco Salas.
Beribės Mintys (Limitless Thougts), 2022. Folded Paper. Unique. Image © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; PM8/Francisco Salas.
Elena Narbutaitė participated over the past years in important institutional exhibitions. We can highlight her solo shows Prosperity curated by Virginija Januškevičiūtė at the Contemporary Art Center, CAC, Vilnius, 2017; Project Room curated by Jean Marc Prévost at Carré Art Musée d´Art Contemporain de Nîmes, 2018; Alex curated by Chris Fitzpatrick at Kunstverein Munich, 2017. Other important shows in which she participated were: oO Lithuania-Cyprus Pavilion – 55th. Biennale de Venezia curated by Raimundas Malasauskas, 2013; Fusiform Gyrus, curated by Raimundas Malasauskas, Lisson Gallery, London, 2013; Liverpool Biennial, 2016; Rehearsal, Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong-Kong, 2017; Rosalind Nashashibi and Lucy Skaer, Thinking through, Tate St. Ives, 2018; Between ears, new colours, Elena Narbutaite and Hagar Schmidhalter curated by Elfi Turpin, CRAC Alsace, 2020.
Molls, 2020. Paper & Tape. Unique. Installation view of Between ears new colours (with Hagar Schmidhalter) at CRAC Alsace. Image © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; CRAC Alsace & PM8/Francisco Salas. Photo credits: Aurélien Mole.
Molls, 2020. Paper & Tape. Unique. Installation view of Between ears new colours (with Hagar Schmidhalter) at CRAC Alsace. Image © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; CRAC Alsace & PM8/Francisco Salas. Photo credits: Aurélien Mole.
Sun, 2019. Laser. Unique. installation view of Between ears new colours at CRAC Alsace. Image © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; CRAC Alsace & PM8/Francisco Salas. Photo credits: Aurélien Mole.
Sun, 2019. Laser. Unique. installation view of Between ears new colours at CRAC Alsace. Image © Elena Narbutaitė 2022, courtesy the artist; CRAC Alsace & PM8/Francisco Salas. Photo credits: Aurélien Mole.
Prosperity, 2017. Installation view at CAC, Vilnius. Courtesy Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius. © Elena Narbutaitė. Image credits: Darius Petrulatis.
Prosperity, 2017. Installation view at CAC, Vilnius. Courtesy Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius. © Elena Narbutaitė. Image credits: Darius Petrulatis.
Prosperity, 2017. Installation view at CAC, Vilnius. Courtesy Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius. © Elena Narbutaitė. Image credits: Darius Petrulatis.