The exceptional work of the painter, photographer and designerMarius Morkūnas between line and color

The exceptional work of the painter, photographer and designerMarius Morkūnas between line and color
Marius Morkūnas is a young generation painter, photographer anddesigner, living and working in Kaunas, Lithuania. He is a member of thepainters' group "Indigo art", an active participant in exhibitions and pleinairs. He organize his personals exhibitions in Lithuania and in foreigncountries too. He graduated from the Klaipėda Eduardas Balsis ArtGymnasium. Later, he studied and defended his bachelor's and master'sdegrees at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, where he acquired a visualdesign specialty. From 1988-1991, he began to decorate home interiorswith watercolors. Later, he began to photograph and paint, and participatein exhibitions. The author is deeply interested in the cultures of Japan andother countries, which strengthen the artist's perception in artisticcompositions. The artist's non-standard work is dominated by abstractcreative stylistics. Nature and sea motifs become the center of attention.In the center of attention or in a corner artistic composition, motifs of aplant, tree, bird appear. They are stylized, sometimes become signs, givemeaning to the artist's idea, highlight emotion. And sometimes adecorative aspect is also highlighted in them through color and line.M. Morkūnas' artistic works are dominated by aestheticized images,which form an indissoluble whole of emotional harmony and form,harmony and balance dominate in the works. In the artist's extremelyunconventional paintings, graphic lines, abstract strokes, a bright play ofdark and light colors are combined. The artist's work is attractive for itssensitivity, emphasis on the relationship between nature and the sea,which is reflected in larger-format canvases.
The author is convinced that his work is inspired by sources of variousnations and cultures. The sea is depicted not in a direct, but in anabstracted sense, through sea voyages in time, in relation to motifs ofdifferent times.Having studied one of the most important areas of M. Morkūnas'painting, landscapes, it can be stated that M. Morkūnas' seascapes areexceptional in the context of Lithuanian art.In the magazine, the painter, photographer and designer presents thesepaintings of his.
In the field of contemporary art, the painter, photographer and designerMarius Morkūnas stands out because he creates on non-standard themes,in as many as three areas of art. In the author's work, these areascomplement each other. In the field of contemporary art, MariusMorkūnas stands out as a creator who moves between disciplines andconsciously blurs their boundaries. The designer's precision, thephotographer's sensitivity to the moment and the painter's thinking aboutcolor merge in his work into a single visual language, in which line andcolor become the main characters. For Morkūnas, these two elements arenot just means of form - they are a way of thinking, a field of researchand a source of emotional tension.Design experience is felt in his works as a structural backbone. The linein the artist's work often acts as a construction: it organizes space, setsrhythm, guides the gaze. Even when the work seems expressive orintuitive, a clear visual logic lies beneath the surface. For Morkūnas, the
line is not decorative – it is disciplined, sometimes strict, but neverlifeless. It resembles a drawing, which can also be an emotional map.In photography, this linear logic manifests itself through framing,perspective, and the relationship with light. Painter, photographer, anddesigner Marius Morkūnas often captures not so much the object as itsboundary: the edge of a shadow, the refraction of light, the contour of aform. Photography becomes an intermediate state between reality andabstraction, where the line is already beginning to move away from therecognizable image and turns into an independent sign. Color inphotographic works is often restrained, but precisely because of this, itemphasizes structure and mood even more.In painting, color comes to the fore – as a sensation, as a material, as anemotion. Here Morkūnas allows himself more freedom, but even in thisfreedom there remains a tension between spontaneity and control. Colourfields often intersect with clear linear gestures, as if a dialogue betweenchaos and order were constantly taking place. Colour does not so muchfill the form as it argues with it, destroys it or, on the contrary, strengthensit.The important thing is that line and colour are not opposites inMorkūnas’s work. Rather, they are two sides of the same thought. Here,the line can be colourful, and the colour linear. This approach allows theartist to avoid the traps of a single style and to constantly remain inmotion. His works often look like fragments of a process, as if the vieweris invited not to the final answer, but to the search itself.Summarising the work of the painter, designer and photographer MariusMorkūnas, it can be said that this “in-between” – between design and art,
between photography and painting, between line and colour – is theessential space of Morkūnas’ work. This is not uncertainty, but aconsciously chosen position. It is in it that the tension is born, whichattracts the eye and encourages the viewer to stop, look, feel. Morkūnas'swork does not offer easy interpretations, but opens up the possibility ofexperiencing the image as a form of thinking - silent but intense. Art critic Gabrielė Kuizinaitė