When I hear the word “staircase”, I sometimes think of the paintings of Arūnas Vaitkūnas (1956–2005), their color and depth. The kind of staircases you don’t see much these days. As a middle-aged woman from Kaunas, I am one of the many who are strongly influenced by this painter’s style and the spirit of the passing of time, but there are very few who are able to turn impact or a relationship into a valuable matter of their own.
Last fall, we talked to Lukas Mykolaitis about the Vaitkūnas-like staircases. Lukas, who is involved in artistic research on architecture and the environment, told us that after visiting an exhibition at the Kaunas Picture Gallery five years after Vaitkūnas’ death, he became more deeply interested in space in general, and even decided to study painting. However, he later opted for other means of expression.
This time, the magazine presents photographer Gintaras Česonis’ glimpses of stairs and staircases – not in Kaunas or Vilnius, as explored by the painter, but in Tbilisi, which the Kaunas-based artist visited in 2012. It was in Georgia in 2005 that A. Vaitkūnas unexpectedly passed away. He and G. Česonis were not only colleagues working at the Vilnius Academy of Arts Kaunas Faculty but also close friends.
Here’s how art critic Prof. Dr. Rasa Žukienė describes the exhibition of this series held in Vilnius in 2022, “Many of Kaunas’ younger artists, including Gintaras Česonis, still acknowledge the positive influence of this personality on their worldview and ethics. Memories and the bitterness of losing a spiritually close companion directed Gintaras Česonis’ gaze toward the staircases of the old town houses in Tbilisi, a favorite painting motif of Arūnas Vaitkūnas, and inspired the creation of the photography series Stairway to Heaven. I think it’s important to note that it is quite rare to encounter an artist who reflects on another artist in their work and expresses respect through their creative output.”
“The stairwell is a place where all kinds of people pass by, but nobody stays because it is uncomfortable and unsafe. All of this pushed the painter to immerse himself in viscous, nuanced color palettes,” R. Žukienė further explains. According to her, “Gintaras Česonis sees the old stairs of Tbilisi’s Old Town in a range of greyish monochromatic shades, and, I would say, somehow hopefully, as if it were a staircase to a metaphysical Heaven”.
