Lithuanian Culture Institute
Lithuanian Culture Institute
Illustrators

Marius Jonutis

Lithuanian Culture Institute
Marius Jonutis

First of all, I try to remember what illustrations I myself found beautiful or exciting as a child; I don’t want children to get bored, I’m trying to find a direct way of communication with the viewer, so when I’m drawing an elephant, what I’m saying is ‘this is an elephant’, not ‘so that you know, my dear child, this is how grown up artists draw an elephant’.

If you ask me about writing – I don’t write for children, neither do I write for adults, I just write things I want to say, I don’t have a target reader, everybody is free to choose and those who need it, take it. And if it’s a child who takes my book – it’s the greatest reward for me. I hate talking ‘like with kids’ – it’s insincere and untrue. The two most important things are truth and freedom. It applies both to children and not children.

Born: February 1, 1965, Vilnius, Lithuania.
1976 – 1983 M.K. Čiurlionis School of Arts.
1983 – 1991 Vilnius Academy of Arts.
1990 – 1991 Guest Student, Dusseldorf Art Academy (Germany).
CONTACTS
Rokantai village, Vilnius district, Lithuania
E-mail: jonutis.marius@gmail.com
FIELDS OF ACTIVITY
Painting, sculpture, graphic design, illustration, literature.
EXHIBITIONS
In 1990–2010, the artist has held over 50 art exhibitions (in association with Nomeda Marčėnaite) in Lithuania, Germany (Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin), Denmark (Copenhagen, Ikast, Herning), France (Montpelier).

In 2010 he took part in the International Literature Festival in Berlin with the books he wrote and illustrated Blue Green (Mėlyna žalia) and The Worm Bird: Your First Book about the Art of Flying (Kirminas paukštis: tavo pirmoji knyga apie skraidymo meną).

“Illustrarium: Contemporary Lithuanian Children’s Book Illustration“, Bologna children’s book fair, Italy, 2011.
Travelling exhibition “Contemporary Lithuanian Children’s Book Illustration“, Italy, USA, Belgium, Luxembourg, 2013.
AWARDS
2004 IBBY Lithuanian Section Award for the most artistic book for young adults – Tales of the Little Brown-Nosed Bear (Rudnosiuko istorijos), Vilnius, Lithuania.

2009 The Special IBBY Lithuanian Section Award for originality of the book The Worm Bird: Your First Book about the Art of Flying (Kirminas paukštis: tavo pirmoji knyga apie skraidymo meną), Vilnius, Lithuania.

2012 Jonutis was put on IBBY’s List of Honour for his book The Worm Bird: Your First Book about the Art of Flying (Kirminas paukštis: tavo pirmoji knyga apie skraidymo meną).

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Slibinas Jurgis ir kitos istorijos (George the Dragon and Other Tales): [fairy-tales], Marius Jonutis, Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2010.

Seno smuikininko dainelės; Drakonas ir upė (Songs of an Old Fiddler; The Dragon and the River): [poems], Marcelijus Martinaitis, Vilnius: Dominicus Lituanus, 2010.

Kirminas paukštis: tavo pirmoji knyga apie skraidymo meną (The Worm Bird: Your First Book about the Art of Flying): [essays for children], Marius Jonutis,. Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2009.

Mėlyna žalia (Blue Green): [poems], Marius Jonutis, Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2008.

Obuolių pasakos (Apple Fairy-tales): [fairy-tales], Vytautas V. Landsbergis, Vilnius: Nieko rimto, 2005.

Žuveliukas (The Little Fish): [story], Vytautas V. Landsbergis, Vilnius: Nieko rimto, 2005.

Rudnosiuko istorijos (Tales of the Little Brown-Nosed Bear): [adventure tales], Vytautas V. Landsbergis, Vilnius: Vaga, 2004.

Pasakojimas apie būgnus (A Story about Drums): [music explained to children], Rita Aleknaitė-Bieliauskienė, Vilnius: Radau, 2001.