Moters biustas
varis, h 64
Gervė
varis, h 64
Gervės
varis, h 117
Atminimo medalis „Andrius Vištelis“
Galvanoplastika, bronza, d 10
Atminimo medalis „Juozas Miliauskas“
Galvanoplastika, bronza, d 10
Atminimo medalis „Martynas Jankus“
Galvanoplastika, bronza, d 11
Atminimo medalis „Jurgis Mikšas“
Galvanoplastika, bronza, d 11
Atminimo medalis „Jonas Šliūpas“
Galvanoplastika, bronza, d 8,2
Atminimo medalis „Jonas Šliūpas“
Galvanoplastika, bronza, d 8,2
Atminimo medalis „Maironis“
Galvanoplastika, bronza, d 6,8
Atminimo medalis „Maironis“
Galvanoplastika, bronza, d 6,8
medalis
bronza
Edmundas Frėjus (1949-2009)
During the rebirth, around 1987-1988, an interesting metal sculptor came from Klaipėda to live and work in Kaunas. At the time he was lauded for his masterful and functional metal articles, and that is why he got an invite to come work at the Kaunas Radio Factory “Banga”, located at the space of the Resurrection Church. He was trusted with the factory matters pertaining to plastics of metal. Everyone quickly realised that he was highly skilled, a peculiar character, an exceptional and ambitious man. Everybody was always surprised by Frėjus’ optimism and smile during the Soviet year. At first the sculptor was creating models for complex metal parts, handles, grilles, etc., in a workshop at the radio factory.
His buddy Henrikas Žukauskas remembers: “It wasn’t long before the tale of the smith spread. Edmundas had decent conditions for work, so he had plenty of orders. At the time, of course, his creative potential just started gushing. His works surprised many an art expert. He did personal shows in Kaunas, received the highest praise from experts for his works. His individuality, personability and philosophy, characteristic to him alone, were surprising. He wasn’t a smith any more, but a metal master”.
But the extraordinary work done here in the Resurrection Church was very unexpected. This was during the events of 13 January, 1991. The supreme council decreed to award the hero victims with the Orders of the Cross of Vytis and nobody in Lithuania had any experience forging orders yet, Lithuanian mint refused the order due to inability to fulfil it. Foreign companies found the terms too restrictive.
Frėjus and his helpers took the matter into their own hands: he created the orders with the help of sculptor Aloyzas Jonušaukas (packaging and engraving) and Henrikas Žukauskas (organisational works, ordering reddish black silk bands from the Kaunas textile factory, etc). The star of Vytis order and the enamel covered order with a double cross were produced on time.
In addition to this symbolic work for Lithuania, Edmundas Frėjus started creating metal objects and sculptures for exhibitions in Kaunas. That was an important turn in his life. One may say his artistic creativity developed here in the 1990s. After creating a series of metal sculptures in rapid succession, he would then quickly sell out the objects after exhibitions and continue forging. Up until the end of his life he was tirelessly productive and in his last show “Born to Fly” (2009) he did an action – tried on the wings that he forged, gave out metal feathers to the audience. This name and the art action became a marvellous symbol marking out his creative work and it was remembered all over again in a retrospective show in 2021 (the show took place near the Resurrection Church, in the former cinema “Daina”).
Edmundas Frėjus was born in 1949, in Tauragė. Started learning smithery when he was fourteen. In 1976 he graduated from the Telšiai School of Applied Arts (now – Vilnius Academy of Art, Telšiai Faculty). From 1983 he participated in art medal exhibitions in Lithuania and other Baltic countries, while in 1987 he started to partake in art medal competitions. He won the first place at the competition “125th Anniversary of Lithuanian Poet Maironis” organized by the Lithuanian Artists Association. In the 1990s he held many solo shows of metal sculpture in Lithuania, Israel, Colombia, and the USA.
Back to the map