On 17 December, exhibition by the monumental artist Nijolė Vilutytė opens at ‘apiece’, a gallery strategically focused on autonomous artistic expression.
~ WAVE
In 1991–1992, at the dawn of of Lithuania’s Independence, Nijolė Vilutytė created in Palanga a three-part stained-glass work, Saulės takas (Path of the Sun), and Improvisations I–III (thin coloured glass, lead, approx. 18 sq. m.), together with the four-part fresco–sgraffito Sukūryje (In the Whirlpool). The works were integrated into Vilnius Municipality’s holiday residence Jūros vilnis (Wave of the Sea)(architect Mečislovas Valevičius), later renamed to Gintaras (Amber) and, still later, 9 bangos (9 Waves), built beside the botanical park and surrounded by pines.
Within its expansive spaces, high walls and the shifting rhythms of seaside light, Vilutytė’s stained glass seemed to glide through the interior. It captured the rhythm of the setting sun and the movement of waves, meeting real nature through open window segments. In this way, the stained glass linked the interior with the coastal landscape and became, at the same time, a metaphor for artistic expression and the country’s newfound freedom.
~ AFTER ~
In 2025, a decision was taken to demolish the building in Palanga. Although the stained glass was saved, the situation exposed a wider issue: while copyright law provides for the protection of a work’s inviolability, monumental artworks in Lithuania are often left unregistered, unprotected and unrecognised in terms of value. Moreover, monumental works created in the early 1990s, that is, in the first years of independence, carried no ideological charge at all, despite frequently being incorrectly labelled as Socialist Realism.
WAVE ~
In the exhibition ‘Wave after Wave’ at ‘apiece’, the stained glass appears in an entirely new state. It is no longer a link between interior and nature, but a dismantled structure. The gallery becomes a new architectural body in which the stained glass sheds its decorative function and takes on the character of an installation. The work becomes itinerant—no longer an improvisation within an interior, but a composition that speaks about shifting ideas of freedom, and about the desire to preserve memory and heritage. Although stained glass has traditionally been classified as applied art, over the past decade it has been returning actively to the field of contemporary art. Forms of expression once associated with monumental art have opened up to artists who move freely between disciplines and spaces. Vilutytė’s relocated work reveals not only masterful craftsmanship but also qualities of light, transparency and fragmentation that resonate strongly with contemporary aesthetics. It is a material that responds to its surroundings: to light, to the time of day, to movement. In the gallery, the work becomes a distinctive medium of interdisciplinary expression. It shifts from heritage into a conceptual field in which new narratives emerge about history, place and time, the public and the private, function and autonomy. ‘Wave after Wave’ travels from Palanga to Vilnius—a reminder, perhaps, that everything is in flux.
~ ~ ~
Nijolė Vilutytė (b. 1947) is a monumental artist who has created significant works for sacral architecture and public buildings. Among her most important works are the frescoes–sgraffito and stained glass in the Chapel of Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis at St Michael the Archangel Church in Marijampolė; the frescoes–sgraffito and stained glass in the Chapel of Mary, Queen of Martyrs in Elektrėnai; the fresco–sgraffito Tėviškė (Homeland) in the former Lithuanian Representation, later the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Moscow; the frescoes–sgraffito Kryžiaus kelias (Way of the Cross) and stained glass in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Martyrs in Elektrėnai; the fresco–sgraffito Paukščių takas (Milky Way) in the ‘Ritualas’ funeral home in Vilnius; and the three-part fresco–sgraffito and stained glass in the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Vilnius. Vilutytė’s practice is characterised by mythological and religious themes, monumental and abstracted forms, and dynamic, rhythmic compositions.
Her works are held by the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art. In 1999 she received the Lithuanian Government Prize for Arts.
Exhibition curators: Milena Černiakaitė ir Aušra Trakšelytė
Exhibition architect: Mindaugas Reklaitis
Graphic design: Marek Voida
Text translation: Martynas Galkus
Exhibition funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius City Municipality
Exhibition open until 3 February 2026
More about the gallery: apiece.lt