Žilvinas Kempinas

Lithuanian visual artist

Žilvinas Kempinas (born 1969 in Plungė, Lithuania) is a contemporary visual artist. He lives and works in New York City.

Biography

Zilvinas Kempinas studied at the Vilnius Academy of Arts during the time when Lithuania was one of the first republics to declare sovereignty from the Soviet Union in 1990. He graduated the Academy in 1993. Kempinas exhibited works that merged paintings, sculptures, performance art and installations. He collaborated with Oskaras Koršunovas and created set designs for "The Old Woman 2", "Hello Sonia New Year", "The Flying Dutchman", and "PS Byla OK" which won him the 1998 Kristoforas Award for Best Drama Theater Stage Design.

Kempinas moved to New York at the end of 1997 and received an MFA in combined media from Hunter College, City University of New York in 2002. His first New York show took place at PS1 Contemporary Art Center in 2003. In 2007, Kempinas was featured by Art Review Magazine as one of its 'Future Greats'.^[1] In the same year, he was awarded the Calder Prize and a residency at Atelier Calder in Saché, France. In 2008, the artist exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art^[2] and, in 2009, in a solo show at the Kunsthalle, Vienna.^[3] In 2009, Kempinas represented Lithuania at the Venice Biennale 53rd International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy.

In 2012, Kempinas was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts.

Works

"Mr. Kempinas has an unusual ability to derive the maximum effects from the slightest of means. It gives his work a resonant economy and, for all its banality, a poetic relationship to the world at large." – Roberta Smith^[4]

Kempinas employs nontraditional materials to create active and dynamic exhibits, most commonly as installations. In many of his works, Kempinas utilizes his signature material, unwound magnetic tape. The use of the tape affects the viewer through various senses; visually, aurally and physically. In his work Double O from 2008, he directed two large electric fans at two loops of magnetic tape causing them to seemingly perpetually fly and dance between the fans. At the Venice Biennale 2009, Kempinas presented Tube.^[5] Located in the Lithuanian Pavilion at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, Tube consisted of magnetic tape strung parallel to the ground creating a large translucent tube or tunnel that viewers can walk through.^[6] The work addressed the physical and optical experience of the viewer, the passage of time, and the perception of the body and architecture.^[7]"

“Utilizing industrial fans in his installations to undulate loops of videotape, Žilvinas Kempinas creates gracious gestures in space that are at once minimalistic and yet keenly present. What is most fascinating about Kempinas is not the materials he employs but the transformative experience that his work evokes through its immateriality. In response to the expanse of Calder’s studio and the surrounding hills, Kempinas began working on a much larger scale in Saché. The dimensions of his now famous Tube (2008), a shimmering walkway of magnetic tape that ultimately filled the Lithuanian Pavilion in the 2009 Venice Biennale, was maximally scaled to fit the volume of the Saché studio. Kempinas is the only resident whose work has registered those ideal proportions that Calder designed for himself in 1962. – Alexander S. C. Rower^[8]

"I am attracted to things that can transcend their own banality and materiality to become something else -- something more. I am going for something fundamentally natural. Looking at one of my works can, I hope, be like watching a flame or a running river. I want people to forget for a second what they are looking at and inhabit a parallel world, where abstract things make perfect sense as long as you are willing to take the time to look." – Zilvinas Kempinas, interview with Veronica Roberts, Museo Magazine.

Notable exhibitions

2019 Zilvinas Kempinas, Liberté! Saison Culturelle 2019, Bordeaux, France
2019 Negative Space, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
2018 Action-Reaction 100 Years of Kinetic Art, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2016 Tube, Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Austria
2016 Zilvinas Kempinas, IKON Gallery, Birmingham, United Kingdom
2016 Calder Prize, Pace London, London, United Kingdom

2016 Sculpture by the Sea: Cottesloe, Cottesloe Beach, Australia
2015 The Kaleidoscopic Turn, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

2014 Scarecrow, Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, New York, United States
2013 Fountains, Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
2013 Darkroom, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
2013 Antigravity, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, Japan
2013 Slow Motion, Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland
2012 Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2012, Niigata, Japan
2011 Exhibition of the permanent collection (from 1960 to present), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
2011 Still, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia
2011 Vartai 20 Years: Zilvinas Kempinas, Vartai Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
2011 Our Magic Hour, Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama, Japan
2011 On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, United States
2010 Airborne, AV Festival, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead Quays, United Kingdom
2010 I Believe in Miracles: 10th anniversary of the Lambert Collection, Yvon Lambert Gallery, Avignon, France
2009 53rd International Art Exhibition, The Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2008 Zilvinas Kempinas, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
2008 NOW JUMP, Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul, Korea
2008 New Work: Zilvinas Kempinas, Alyson Shotz, Mary Temple, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, United States
2007 Parallels/Flying Tape, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania
2007 Collected Visions: Modern and Contemporary Works from the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
2006 Flying Tape, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2003 Still and 186 000 mi/s, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center MoMA PS1, New York City, United States

Selected Collections

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Collection Lambert, Museum of Contemporary Art, Avignon France
Credit Agricole Art Collection, Paris, France
JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, New York, United States
Lewben Art Foundation, Vilnius, Lithuania
Lio Malca Collection, New York, United States
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark
MUDAM Musée d'art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (The Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art), Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, Australia
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland, Australia
The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, Miami, United States

References

^ Art Review Magazine, "Future Greats: 25 Artists You Need to Know
^ Exhibition at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2008
^ Kempinas 2009 show at Kunsthalle wien
^ Smith, Roberta (2006-02-10). "Art in Review; Zilvinas Kempinas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
^ Kempinas's Lithuanian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
^ Tube in Venice
^ E-flux review of the Lithuanian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2009
^ "Calder Prize". Calder Foundation. Retrieved 2021-08-20.

External links

Artist personal website: zilvinaskempinas.com
Bitforms gallery
Galeria Leme
Galeria Vartai
Roberta Smith, review of Zilvinas Kempinas at Spencer Brownstone Gallery, The New York Times, February 10, 2006
Vernissage video and information on Tube from the Venice Biennale 2009
Drawing in Motion Double O at MoMA 2010
Video of Double O by Zilvinas Kempinas in Art Days
Slow Motion Zilvinas Kempinas at Museum Tinguely
Sculpture by the Sea A View from Zilvinas Kempinas
The process itself becomes an art piece Arterritory Interview

Recipients of the Lithuanian National Prize

1989–1993

1989

J. Juškaitis

A. Martinaitis

Š. Sauka

K. Matuzevičius

H. Šablevičius

Čiurlionis Quartet

J. Tankevičius

D. Dikšaitis

G. Dačinskas

S. Lipčius

1990: J. Juzeliūnas; K.N. Kitkauskas; A. Steponavičius; Z. Žemaitytė; R. Požerskis
1991: V. Bložė; J. Kačinskas; G. Karalius; B. Radzevičius; P.R. Vaitekūnas
1992: V. Antanavičius; K. Bradūnas; V. Drėma; P. Geniušas; A. Šliogeris
1993: P. Bingelis; V. Daujotytė; V. Kavolis; V. Kašuba; L. Noreika

1994–1998

1994: S. Geda; G. Rinkevičius; A. Dovydėnas; R. Midvikis; A. Žebrauskas; R. Krištapavičius; A. Sakalauskas; R. Tuminas
1995: A. Macijauskas; R. Katilius; B. Kutavičius; A. Petrulis; V. Šerys; J. Mekas; A. Rubšys
1996: O. Balakauskas; S. Kuzma; V. Masalskis; V. Prudnikovas; J. Strielkūnas; E. Špokaitė; V. Valius
1997: A. Nyka-Niliūnas; O. Narbutaitė; P. Repšys; J. Erlickas; A. Šenderovas; R. Ibelgauptienė; Z. Ibelgauptas; E. Nekrošius
1998: V. Bartulis; F. Jakubauskas; A. Kunčius; M. Martinaitis; D. Sauka; A. Šaltenienė; A. Bumblauskas; A. Galinis; E. Gudavičius; A. Žostautas

1999–2003

1999: J. Onaitytė; D. Kajokas; K. Pempė; G. Ramunis; A. Savickas; L.L. Katinas; M. Navakas; A. Zalatorius; S. Sondeckis; O. Narbutienė
2000: E. Cukermanas; D. Kasčiūnaitė; R. Granauskas; T. Venclova; N. Miliauskaitė; I. Milkevičiūtė; J. Domarkas; V. Bagdonas; A. Jacovskis
2001: L. Gutauskas; Š. Bartas; J. Marcinkevičius; F. Bajoras; V. Urmanavičiūtė; L.V. Strioga; S. Eidrigevičius; D. Katkus; K. Smoriginas
2002: R. Antinis; P. Vyšniauskas; O. Koršunovas; J. Juozapaitis; A. Každailis; A. Stonys; J. Mikelinskas; K. Platelis; D. Geringas
2003: A.J. Kuras; J. Aleksa; V. Juozapaitis; V. Barkauskas; A.A. Jonynas; P. Dirgėla; B. Vilimaitė; A. Sutkus; J. Vaitkus

2004–2008

2004

O. Baliukonytė

S. Parulskis

J. Paulėkaitė

P. Mazūras

M. Vilutis

R. Mažulis

S. Stonytė

S. Žvirgždas

Vilnius State Quartet

A. Vainiūnaitė

A. Šilalė

G. Jakaitis

A. Vasiliauskas

2005: G. Varnas; L. Oržekauskienė; J. Aputis; J. Ivanauskaitė; K. Jaroševaitė; V. Laurušas; A. Marčėnas; A. Matelis; R. Šervenikas
2006: S. Juškys; K. Navakas; N. Lukšionytė-Tolvaišienė; V. Balčytis; J.V. Bruveris; R. Kepežinskas; M. Rubackytė; R. Sakalauskas; A. Vizgirda
2007: V. Kernagis; A. Andriuškevičius; Š. Nakas; V. Paukštė; N. Urbonienė; G. Urbonas; Z. Nagytė-Katiliškienė
2008: R. Staliliūnaitė-Matulionienė; V. Povilionienė; A. Gailius; R. Šerkšnytė; D. Narkevičius; V. Juknaitė

2009–2013

2009: A. Grikevičius; J.R. Jurašas; R. Kazlas; M. Matušakaitė; R. Rakauskas; R. Skučaitė
2010: V. Noreika; I. Meras; V. Augustinas; R. Rastauskas; P. Mataitis; D. Mataitienė; J. Gasiūnas
2011: A. Žebriūnas; A. Aleksandravičius; V. Landsbergis; K. Grigaliūnas; H. Čigriejus; A. Krikščiūnaitė
2012: V. Vildžiūnas; K. Nastopka; V. Mazūras; E. Miliūnas; Ž. Kempinas; M. Pitrėnas
2013: D. Banionis; F. Latėnas; G. Kuprevičius; V. Braziūnas; J. Budraitis; J. Gricius

2014–2018

2014: R. Adomaitis; J. G. Kanovičius; R. Palekas; N. Savičenko; E. V. Sventickas; A. Šeškus
2015: A. J. Ambrazas; L. M. Digrys; D. Gavenonis; G. Subačienė; V. Urbanavičius; Birutė Žilytė-Steponavičienė