Rimvydas Pupelis’s exhibition Death Dances My Happiness is a unique artistic reflection on human existence, the logic of life, and the mystery of death. This series, which began with the painting Seven Dwarfs Love One Death, highlights the artist’s philosophical understanding that birth and death are universal phenomena, whose logic is simple, yet whose emotional context is profound and multi-layered.
At the heart of the exhibition’s ideas is the artist’s inner struggle with questions of life’s meaning. Pupelis hates life but fears death, and this paradox drives him to explore existential dilemmas. In his work, he conveys the idea that death is not a matter of religion but a form of literature—a part of a story, like a tale that makes life more understandable. The series of paintings is marked by the absence of spatial depth, where color becomes form, and the images convey the artist’s thoughts as illustrations. Yet these works do not follow strict rules or manifestos; each painting reflects the artist’s personal relationship with his life and his perception of death. Here, death is understood not as a dramatic event but as an everyday detail, on the same level as the death of a fly, mosquito, or beetle. Pupelis also raises a philosophical question about human capacities—why can a person kill, but cannot fly while standing naked? This paradoxical idea reminds us of the limits of morality, the constraints of humanity, and the ambiguous abilities that provoke reflection on the value of life.
Death Dances My Happiness is not only an artistic series but also a philosophical provocation. Pupelis’s paintings compel viewers to confront their fears, moral paradoxes, and the perception of death as both a personal and societal phenomenon. The works in the exhibition are united by a central idea: human existence is more than physical form; it is a journey of consciousness and emotion, in which death becomes not only an end but also the beginning of new reflections.
Death dances my happiness
On Thursday, April 17, at 5:30 PM, Rimvydas Pupelis’s exhibition Death Dances My Happiness will open at the Šiauliai Art Gallery.
The exhibition will run until May 10.
Photo author Andrius Lamauskas.
Information in English: https://siauliugalerija.lt/rimvydo-pupelio-paroda-mirtis…/
Conversation with Rimvydas Pupelis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcEdTUnEZRM
Exhibition: https://www.facebook.com/events/2564780810545085/2564780863878413?active_tab=about
