From March 16 to 30, 2021, the Vilnius Town Hall hosted Artur Širin’s painting exhibition titled “City Details.”
“Paco Rabanne jacket and skateboard from Lidl. Balenciaga sneakers and the 17th trolleybus to Naujininkai” – briefly described the artist Artur Širin about his works. In the exhibition “City Details,” the artist plays with familiar symbols and shocking contrasts, hinting at popular culture and consumerism issues.
The theme of the city and its inhabitants is a frequent subject in the artist’s work. He began his artistic journey with street art, using its techniques and genres to this day. The latest paintings freely interpret the themes of urban society and structure, addressing human habits, modern world peculiarities, and problems. The idea of the exhibition is best summarized by the piece “The Mountain” – a settlement covered in logos and advertisements, with the mountain, the main natural feature of the city, submerged under the abundance of commercial waste. The theme of human dependence on consumption is continued in the works “Tagged City” and “The Perfect Sunset.”
The primary structure of the paintings contrasts street culture with luxury, and everyday versus intellectual motifs. The choice of technique is deliberate: aerosol paint on paper shifts the paintings from the refined genre of painting closer to the everyday life of a person surrounded by posters and advertisements.
Artur Širin’s work features many archetypal, easily recognizable elements: the traditional gabled house volume, a doghouse, a cat, and commercial symbolism. The color palette predominantly includes primary colors. The paintings are playful, almost decorative, but the ironic juxtaposition of everyday motifs draws attention to the painful flaws of the modern world while avoiding stereotypical gloomy narratives.
