Remigijus Kriukas’ art glass exhibition “Between Illusion and Reality”

September 6, 2025 – October 4, 2025. Šiauliai Art Gallery is hosting the Remigijus Kriukas art glass exhibition “Between Illusion and Reality”.

Exhibition opening – Saturday, September 13, 2025, 2:00 p.m. Admission is free during the exhibition opening.

BETWEEN ILLUSION AND REALITY

Glass can be viewed in many ways: admired, feared, protected, treasured, hated, and more. Yet it is hard to deny that glass is an exceptional material, full of secrets and a certain kind of magic. Some may keep away from glass artworks altogether, but for many, the play of forms and colors in stained glass or sculptures illuminated by light—let alone the very process of a glass piece being born in high heat, surrounded by fire and guided by the artist’s hand—sparks wonder, admiration, or at least curiosity. While science could explain much of it, there is another dimension involved: emotional, deceptive to the eye, yet awakening the imagination. Something that exists between reality and illusion…

In contemporary art, the theme of space is crucial. In glass art, because of its transparency and fourth dimension (optical phenomena), space resonates in a way unlike any other material. Equally important, however, is the space in which the glass piece is placed. Depending on its environment and lighting, the same work may reveal itself differently. That is why it is essential to carefully select the artworks for a given space and display them in ways that maximize their impact, in hopes that the viewer will leave the exhibition enriched with a variety of positive emotions.

This time, Remigijus Kriukas’ works inhabit Šiauliai Art Gallery. Alongside monumental glass, the exhibition features installation-based and decorative sculptural works. The glass sculptures are accompanied by painterly experiments and photography.

Remigijus Kriukas is one of the most prominent and undoubtedly the most prolific Lithuanian glass artists, who has been consistently shaping a unique tradition of this art form for more than four decades—not only in the Baltic region but also worldwide. His works balance between small-scale sculpture and monumental forms that challenge the limits of human capability. His creative practice merges technological mastery—his deep knowledge of hot glass studio work, equipment, production processes, technical nuances, and cold-working techniques—with his artistic vision, generating ideas and transforming them into a visual language. For him, glass is not merely a decorative medium; it is a means of thinking, of creating metaphors, and of expanding the viewer’s experience. It invites one to pause, to look both inward and outward, and to reconsider concepts of luxury, beauty, and existence.

Undoubtedly, Kriukas traces his creative path with a distinctive style, experimenting and delving into the very materiality of glass. His sculptural works, characterized by free, non-figurative plasticity, reveal the world of human emotions and embody specific experiences.

Dr. Indrė Stulgaitė-Kriukienė

Graphic design – Evaldas Ivanauskas
Photography – Marius Rudžianskas

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Remigijus Kriukas (b. 1961) studied at the Lithuanian State Art Institute (1980–1985), specializing in glass art. After graduation, he began working at AB “Panevėžio stiklas.” From 1993 to 2000 he worked as a designer in the art glass department. In 2000, he established his own glass studio Glasremis in Panevėžys.

Member of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association since 1992.

Since 1985, he has been presenting solo exhibitions, authorial showcases, and has actively participated in group exhibitions and creative symposia in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Hungary, Germany, the Faroe Islands, China, Japan, South Korea, UAE, USA, and other countries.

His works are part of the collections of: Lithuanian National Museum of Art (Lithuania); Evald Okas Museum (Haapsalu, Estonia); Ningbo Glass Museum (Ningbo, China); Riga Glass Museum (Latvia); Livani Glass Museum (Latvia); Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum in Lviv (Ukraine); Lviv Glass Museum (Ukraine); Finnish Glass Museum (Riihimäki, Finland); Budapest Museum of Applied Arts (Hungary); Frauenau Glass Museum (Germany); Alter Hof Herding Glass Museum (Germany).

Awards and Distinctions:

1993 – Work Fish recognized as the best piece at the International Glass Symposium (Bardudvarnok, Hungary).

2006 – Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists Award: “Knight of the Profession” certificate and badge “For Promoting the Country Abroad.”

2009 – Panevėžys Art Days 2009 laureate, nominated “For Creative Maturity.”

2010 – Silver Medal of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, “For Creative Achievements.”

2011 – Named Panevėžys Citizen of the Year for increasing exports, holding impressive art exhibitions, maintaining continuous art displays, and actively representing the city’s business and art community at national and international levels.

2014 – Awarded the title of Foreign Member of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts.

2014 – Lithuanian Artists’ Association Golden Badge (No. 43) for active creative work, promotion of contemporary glass art in Lithuania and abroad.

2017 – Together with Indrė Stulgaitė-Kriukienė, won Audience Choice Award at ArtVilnius’17 (Dusetos Art Gallery).

2019 – Won Audience Choice Award at ArtVilnius’19 (Volfas Engelman Prize) (Dusetos Art Gallery).

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Dear visitors, by attending exhibition openings, you agree that they may be filmed or photographed, and that images may be published on the Šiauliai Art Gallery website, in the media, or on social networks.