Illusionists: On Scenography and Contemporary Art was one of Ozarinskas’s last exhibitions at the Contemporary Art Centre. For this show, which primarily examined theatrical conventions and the structural elements of theatre narrative, he proposed an architectural solution that divided the exhibition area into a sequence of spaces. These spaces shifted according to the viewer’s point of view, transforming visitors into actors within multiple mises-en-scène. The spaces were separated by a translucent, large-meshed veil resembling a tennis or badminton net. Ozarinskas instructed the exhibition’s curators to arrange the exhibits in such a way that a different ‘game’ would be played in each ‘court’.

– Virginija Januškevičiūtė

The spaces of group exhibitions – often open plan and packed with video screens and overlapping sounds – echoed the principles Ozarinskas applied in his interiors; ‘I find it absolutely beautiful when you don’t feel where the floor, the ceiling, the walls and transitions are.’ This influence worked in both directions – in an interview for a magazine, he lists how working at the CAC has influenced his other projects: the return of fascination with the colour white, the use of mobile elements that are easy to transport, the disposition to refrain from hiding things, the desire to design objects as if they were road signs, i.e. clearly visible, functional and defining the rules of conduct. Ozarinskas’s architecture had a tremendous impact on how people became accustomed to seeing contemporary art in Vilnius.

– Virginija Januškevičiūtė, ‘Exhibition Design’, in Architect without Architecture? A Retrospective of Valdas Ozarinskas: exhibition guide, ed.: Virginija Januškevičiūtė, Vilnius: Contemporary Art Centre, 2018, p. 35.

Exhibition architect: Valdas Ozarinskas

Exhibition curators: Julija Fomina, Virginija Januškevičiūtė

Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius

Photographer: Arnas Anskaitis

Photographs: CAC Archive

Other sources:

Rita Mikučionytė, ‘Tikrovės iliuzijos mano „scenos dėžėje’, 7 meno dienos, 2013, No. 35, https://www.7md.lt/tarp_disciplinu/2013-09-27/Tikroves-iliuzijos-mano-scenos-dezeje

Exhibition Architecture