Algirdas Šeškus

Algirdas Šeškus' photography is characterized by an almost amateur aesthetic, featuring compositionally disordered frames, blurred images, inscriptions, and uneven edges.

Biography of Algirdas Šeškus

Algirdas Šeškus was born in 1945 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Between 1968 and 1970, he attended the Vilnius Art School. Subsequently, he undertook a cinematography course in Moscow and worked as a television and radio operator from 1979 until his retirement.

Since 1989, he has been a member of the Lithuanian Society of Art Photography, affiliated with the Union of Lithuanian Art Photographers.

Among his recent exhibitions, notable mentions include his solo show "TV" at the Contemporary Art Center (CAC) in Vilnius in 2017, as well as his participation in documenta14 in Kassel and Athens in the same year. Algirdas Šeškus' work is featured in prominent public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the Museo Nacional Reina Sofía in Madrid, among others.

In 2014, Algirdas Šeškus received the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art.

Algirdas Šeškus' Art Style

Algirdas Šeškus captures images that resemble a latent film awaiting activation. This cinematic quality can transport viewers to various realms of existence— from simple, serene everyday moments to realms of eroticism, awkwardness, mystery, fear, and loneliness. Remarkably, a single image can embody all these elements, positioning the viewer as an observer and Šeškus as an artist on a different plane. His photographs feature indistinct, blurred, and chaotic compositions, presenting subdued, soft, and minimalist visuals with content that may seem unremarkable.

Šeškus eschews titles for his photographs and refrains from indicating their time or place of capture. He advocates for a return to the essence of photography, emphasizing the moment when the act of photography itself becomes a work of art. He navigates a delicate balance between artistic nihilism and the fetishization of the creative process, straddling the realms of underground and official art scenes, and oscillating between collectivism and individuality.