Vytautas Kumža (b. 1992, Lithuania; lives and works in Amsterdam)

Just as the surrealists highlighted in their paintings, when we think about our dreams we are sensitive to the objects that appeared in those scenes as we try to read them. Vytautas Kumza applies the same hypersensitivity to objects, their state and their placement in the waking world. Born into a precarious situation and a turbulent home life where emotions could change at the tip of a bottle, the artist’s childhood experiences taught him to read objects and the minutia of each scene; a gas hob left burning, a scared dog, a door left open and unlocked. In adult life he now couples this honed skill with studies in composition and psychology, to place objects in highly aestheticized relationships that are often instantly alluring but hold unspeakable tension. While still, these protagonists are often bodily in their rendering, fragile, tense; at once potentially sexual, potentially violent, potentially seductive, potentially abusive — emotions waiting for release.

Vytautas Kumža constructs realms out of contradiction to search for meaning within the fractured logic of daily life. Working often with photography, his work is often constructed as a sculptural installation that either doubles or antagonizes the spatial presentation of the images.

Selected solo exhibitions include CODA Museum Apeldoorn, The Netherlands (2025) and Museum Villa Mondriaan. Winterswijk, The Netherlands (2019). Select group exhibitions include Museum of Photography Seoul (MoPS), South Korea (2021); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2024); Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine (2020). His works are held in the collections of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen; MO Museum, Vilnius; CODA Museum, Apeldoorn; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and various private collections. He received the NN Art Award (2022) and the Sybren Hellinga Art Prize (2019).

About Copperfield, London

Housed in an architecturally re-purposed former religious building just south of Tate Modern, Copperfield engages with emerging and established artists, focusing on concept led, multidisciplinary, multi-media practices. Diversity and sustainability have been a priority.
Last year Copperfield artists presented at Tate, Documenta, Manifesta, Turner Contemporary, Whitechapel gallery, Zietz MOCA, EMST Athens, MaXXi Rome, British Art show 9, had pavilions at the Venice Biennale and have been acquired by Kanal Pompidou, MoMa, Tate, Arts Council Collection and Centre Pompidou, Paris.

About Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam

Galerie Martin van Zomeren first opened its doors in 2004. The gallery is a living monument to Amsterdam’s prolific ecosystem of international talent. It presents an adventurous program featuring young talent – whose work demonstrates a vanguard of bold observation and critique. The gallery has accumulated a refined roster of international artists working across the mediums of conceptual photography, sculpture and installation. It continues to grow through active participation in (inter)national art fairs.