A child abandoned by his parents. A diminutive gay man with a shrill voice. A self-taught artist. A darling among the ladies. A charismatic storyteller. A flamboyant dandy. An egotist. Liar. Alcoholic. Genius.

Facets of the personality of Truman Capote, one of the most renowned American writers of the 20th century, unfold on sheets of cheap Tiger-branded paper. In the summer of 2023, almost forty years after his passing, Lithuanian artist Linas Jablonskis witnessed the author’s life through the documentary The Capote Tapes, and channelled it into the realm of drawing.

Rendered with a light touch, these small-format works depict Capote in his various guises, and his environment – the city of New York and its elite circles, characters from the author’s literary works, his friends and lovers. The characters come to life on thin paper as if on fading, aged filmstock, reminding us of a certain time and the once-vibrant life of a cultural icon, both seldom discussed in our country.

These muted watercolour and pencil works were not intended for public viewing and, perhaps not unlike Truman Capote himself, came into the limelight unexpectedly. Created by Jablonskis all in one go, the series of drawings stand out from over twenty years’ worth of the artist’s works because of their conceptual clarity, specific starting point, spontaneous expression, and cohesive theme.

Through his portrayal of Capote, Jablonskis also introduces himself: displayed in the gallery’s first room, the artist’s self-portraits welcome the viewers not only into Truman’s world but also into Linas’s own. Here, portraiture serves as a universal tool helping us grasp the unruly and ever-changing nature of the human psyche. The works featured in this room evoke what remains behind the scenes – hundreds of Jablonskis’s drawings depicting various other artists, politicians, and religious figures, revealing the facets of their personalities, the textures and fragments of their lives.

– Paulius Andriuškevičius

Linas Jablonskis (b. 1959) is an artist based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Jablonskis received a diploma in art theory and history from the Lithuanian Art Institute (now the Vilnius Academy of Arts) in 1982. From 1982 to 2023, he served as the head of the Vilnius University Library Graphic Arts Office. He has created etchings and artist’s books, and has been working exclusively in drawing since 1999. From 2005 to 2010, he organised the international series of events Independent Drawing Gig held in Lithuania, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, and the US. Key solo exhibitions include Drawings at the Akademija Gallery in Vilnius (2012), Lettres du guerre at the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius (2009), Soft Fashion at the Antanas Mončys House-Museum in Palanga (2002). The artist’s works have been featured in group exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art in Vilnius, the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius, SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin, Ibid. Projects in London, the Baltic Art Centre in Sweden, Art in General in New York, etc. Jablonskis’s works have been acquired by the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, MO Museum, VUL Graphic Arts Office, Latvian ​​National Museum of Art, and Osnabrück University.