About Kovelinas

Andrius Kovelinas has been at the forefront of the international contemporary art scene for many years now. Most recently winning the coveted second prize in the most prestigeous Anglo-Italian Academy of Art biennial at the Chianciano Art Museum, Italy with his painting 'Red Dance'.

living in Ireland for almost 10 years now. His extraordinary style and imagination has been on show at The Green Gallery shortly after he set foot on these shores. For many years Andrius had travelled throughout Europe producing his masterly works everywhere he went

Most recent solo Exhibitions: 2012, Galleria La Vittoria, Roma, Italy.

Most recent group Exhibitions: Cagliardi Gallery London, 2012. and ongoing at The Green Gallery. Dublin

Recent achievment: Andrius won the second prize in the most prestigious Anglo-Italian Academy of Art biennial at the Chianciano Art Museum, Italy. For his work 'Red Dance'.

An outsider’s art

         Dave Boland talks to Andrius Kovelinas ahead of his forthcoming exhibition                aptly entitled “She” at the Green Gallery in 2008.

 The influx of Eastern Europeans is generally regarded as a good thing, but, when asked, most people will probably be thinking in terms of employment. However, one Eastern European has set about bringing his own vision to the Irish art world. Andrius Kovelinas has been living in Irelandfor almost four years, although he has spent a significant part of his life away from his native Lithuania.

 “I travelled a lot in Europe through countries such as Sweden, France,Hungary, Lithuania, Spain,” he said. “My sister lives in New York, and I go there two or three times a year to organise small private exhibitions for collectors.”

His travels have informed his art, and brought a certain international flavour to his works. Before moving to Ireland, Kovelinas was living in northern France in the city of St Michel, where his work is widely known and admired. He began his artistic career by participating in several exhibitions of posters in Sweden, Russia, Lithuania, and Poland. In particular he produced a lot of posters for the Opera, Ballet and Theatre companies of Kishinev, Moldova, and he won the Grand Prix in a Politic Poster Exhibition in Moscow in 1983.

In the period between 1987 and 1988, Kovelinas moved from posters back to oil paintings, but traces of the poster-art style can still be found in his work. Today, it is difficult to pin him down a single style – think renaissance classical meets Salvador Dali’s critical paranoia, and you could be coming close. But to fully experience his range, it would definitely be worth checking out his exhibition at the Green Gallery on Wednesday, September 5 at 6.30 pm.

The exhibition is entitled “SHE”, which is hardly surprising considering that, in general, Kovelinas’ themes revolve around women. Indeed, he takes great joy from this subject and will continue to pursue painting extraordinary works of beautiful women as long as he will be able to paint.

“Women are designed amazingly by our creator,” he explained of his fascination with his subject.

In terms of technique, Kovelinas employs a painstaking approach which lends his pictures the element of a crystallised dream.

“All my works are oil on canvas, but style and technique are not so important. So the tools are classic - usually small brushes. First, my idea is sketched on paper, then the real painting is produced. The only problem is time. I cannot create fast. Each work requires preparation (the idea) and then realisation - and I never paint directly on canvas without sketches. It can take between two days and three months, but as a result, a beautiful picture is produced”.

Since 2003, when he first came to this country, Kovelinas has been exhibiting in the Green Gallery, and his works (in Ireland) have remained exclusive to this gallery – including a first Irish solo exhibition in the Green Gallery which took place in February 2006.

The quality of his work, coupled with its otherworldliness, has found favour with the art buying population of Dublin and beyond, and Kovelinas is becoming firmly established as a fixture in many of the collections of discerning Irish art lovers.

“The important thing is that the people love the art, when a person buys my work and hangs it up on their wall, with positive energy and love,” he said. “They not only have a beautiful picture, but a good mood and a small part of me, the artist”.