Tõnis Saadoja: “September, October, March, April”

On Saturday, 2 April Tõnis Saadoja will open his solo exhibition “September, October, March, April” in the large gallery of Tartu Art House.

The painting series is based on architectural motifs, a minimalistic approach to painting and the idea of visibility. Use of architecture photos supports the internal logic of the painting and helps to amplify the feeling of unattainability that can be felt in familiar settings – something that has always haunted Saadoja.

Probing the visibility of the image and the names of colours, these paintings straddle the transition between surface and space. Saadoja has tried to minimise as much as possible in terms of painting technique and optimise his approach to the little that is left. The colours on which the paintings are based upon have no logical connection to the place or fragment depicted; every main tone is different from the ones that precede and follow.

Alongside clear rules and repetitions, this is a fairly organic and free-flowing process that will hopefully not end with the works displayed at this exhibition but quietly continue on its course.

Tõnis Saadoja (b 1980) has studied painting at the Estonian Academy of Arts (BA, 2004) and fine art at the University of East London (MA, 2006). He has been awarded the young artist prize of the Vaal Gallery (2004), the annual award of the Visual and Applied Art Endowment of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2006, 2008, 2012), the audience award of Köler Prize (2011) and the Kristjan Raud Award (2013). His works were last shown at the Tartu Art House in 2011.

Artist thanks his friends and supporters.

Graphic design: Tuuli Aule

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

The exhibition is open until 1 May.