Deimantas Narkevicius: The Unanimous Life

The career of Deimantas Narkevičius (Utena, Lithuania, 1964) has developed primarily in the fields of film and video, although he occasionally turns to sculpture. His work is an investigation into how history is perceived and the mechanisms that transform it, based on diverse utopias and ideologies.

In his work, Narkevičius refuses to adopt an excessively academic stance, distancing himself from the label of the documentary. The artist makes use of the transition experienced in his country to reflect on modern-day society and historical time. Lithuania’s evolution from a Soviet society to a democratic state allows him to analyse collective memory from a critical and subjective point of view. His films interpret history as an instrument that is constantly being moulded to make myths out of reality. Narkevičius confronts the observer with the break between what has truly been lived and what is only imagined.

The MNCARS presents twelve films – nearly his entire filmography – shot between 1997 and 2008 in video and 16mm format by Narkevičius, considered the most renowned Lithuanian artist on the international arts scene. In these films the artist explores the social evolution of post-war Soviet Europe with videos about abandoned nuclear missile launch bases, the removal of a statue of Lenin or the mid-century Jewish resistance in Lithuania. The installationsIndividual and Team Competition (1995) consists of a vaulting horse, trampoline and wall bars and Holy War (1996), made of military boots stuffed with incense, are both hung on the wall. Deimantas Narkevičius: The Unanimous Life represents the largest retrospective on the work of Deimantas Narkevičius to date.

Deimantas Narkevicius
The Unanimous Life
Kurator: Chus Martinez