Category: Painting

Kata-stroofe / Catastrophes is the group exhibition of the second year painting students of the Estonian Academy of Arts, opening Thursday, 22nd of May in ARS Project Space (Pärnu mnt. 154, Tallinn).

The participating artists are Aleksander Kiigemägi, Alec Hales, Kirke Kits, Marit Loitmets, Liisa Nurklik, Veronika Pavliuk, Elery Sallert, Polina Solovjova.

This exhibition brings together the works of eight different young painters who are connected by a shared studio space, common studies and the era into which they have been born. In addition, the works on display are connected by their format, the starting point of these paintings was a large blank canvas, mostly measuring around 2 x 3 metres in size. Such a surface challenges a painter in various ways, expecting sufficient planning and an ability to keep a freshness throughout the whole process.

Painting big is like running a marathon, with the performer needing to keep the spark until the end, knowing and preparing in advance for the idea and resources to last for a longer time and a wider brushstroke.

The resulting artworks variate between figuration and abstraction, predominantly being poetic and introspective. The artists themselves comment on the following:

Here on the walls we have verses made of frames, canvas, paint and something else in between. We have reached for what appeals to us, haunts, nourishes, questions without giving an answer. What ought to be the answer, instead turns out to be a pair of opposites divided by a slash. Control/trust, something/nothing, serious/absurd, emptiness and fulfillment, individuality and hiding oneself.

The exhibition remains open until the 15th of June, Wed-Sat 12-18, Sun 12-16.

The students were supervised by Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Alice Kask and Holger Loodus.

Graphic design by Pärtel Eelmere, photography by Mikk Keis.

The exhibition is supported by the painting department of the Estonian Academy of Arts, Rott/Rat, Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonian Artists’ Association, ARS Art Factory, Põhjala Brewing AS, Kulinaaria OÜ, Punch Club OÜ.

The exhibition is held by the painting department of the Estonian Academy of Arts and is a part of the Estonian Academy of Arts Grad Show TASE’25 satellite programme.

Contact: sirja-liisa.eelma@artun.ee, holger.loodus@artun.ee

Catastrophes

Hello, dear person – you are so welcome in our space. Here on the walls we have verses made of frames, canvas, paint and something else in between. We have reached for what appeals to us, haunts, nourishes, questions without giving an answer. What ought to be the answer, instead turns out to be a pair of opposites divided by a slash. Control/trust, something/nothing, serious/absurd, emptiness and fulfillment, individuality and hiding oneself.

Should we consider this lack of one certain answer a catastrophe of multitudes? See the absence of one final and definitive confirmation as a failure of the question itself? If we truly believed in that, we would have covered up our stanzas and left this room.

The exhibition’s title comes from a poem of the same name by Artur Alliksaar. In this poem, the following line can be found: “Why won’t you believe in the doors you have not unlocked? Why?!” Thank you, our guest, for taking the step towards our door. We’ll now lead you to more than one window.

Fine Arts Assessment Marathon 30.04.–20.05.2025

The spring assessment marathon is here! For three weeks, you can once again experience works produced by students in the Faculty of Fine Arts as their term projects are presented: every day there will be a fresh showcase of university students’ works on display.

Works in animation, contemporary art, installation and sculpture, painting, photography, graphic art and scenography curricula will be on display. On almost each evening of the marathon, a new exhibition will be installed and in the following evening the exhibit will give way to the next one. Hopefully, viewers will be able to keep up with the pace of the young artists.

The assessments will take place in the main building of EKA (1st & 2nd floor general areas and EKA Gallery; Põhja pst 7, Tallinn) and ARS Project Space (Pärnu mnt 154, Tallinn).

On the assessment day, the exhibitions at EKA Gallery are open from 2 pm to 6 pm, on Sundays the exhibitions are open from 12 pm to 4 pm. NB! EKA Gallery is closed on May 1st.

SCHEDULE

Wed 30.04. Photography BA I, supervisor Madis Kurss (EKA Gallery)
Thu 02.05. – Sun 04.05. Drawing and anatomical drawing, Fine Arts BA I, supervisors Matti Pärk, Maiu Rõõmus (EKA Gallery)

Mon 05.05. Drawing, Fine Arts BA II, supervisor Tõnis Saadoja (EKA Gallery)
Mon 05.05. Anatomical drawing, Scenography and Animation BA II, supervisor Maiu Rõõmus (1st & 2nd floor general areas)
Mon 05.05. Drawing, Scenography BA II, supervisor Eero Alev (1st & 2nd floor general areas)
Tue 06.05. Drawing, Fine Arts BA III, supervisor Britta Benno (EKA Gallery)
Wed 07.05. Photography BA I, supervisor Marge Monko (EKA Gallery)
Thu 08.05. Scenography BA II, supervisor Liina Keevallik (EKA Gallery)
Fri 09.05. – Sat 10.05. Scenography BA I, supervisor Mark Raidpere (EKA Gallery)

Sun 11.05. – Mon 12.05. Contemporary Art MA I, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Viktor Gurov, Maris Karjatse, Camille Laurelli, Marge Monko, Laura Põld, David K. Ross, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Jaan Toomik, Anu Vahtra (EKA Gallery)
Tue 13.05. – Wed 14.05. Contemporary Art MA I, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Viktor Gurov, Maris Karjatse, Camille Laurelli, Marge Monko, Laura Põld, David K. Ross, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Jaan Toomik, Anu Vahtra (EKA Gallery)
Thu 15.05. Graphic Art BA I, supervisors Charlotte Biszewski, Caroline Pajusaar, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Mirjam Varik (EKA Gallery)
Fri 16.05. Graphic Art BA II, supervisors Viktor Gurov, Eve Kask (EKA Gallery)
Sat 17.05. – Sun 18.05. Animation BA and MA (EKA Gallery)

Mon 19.05. Painting BA I, supervisors Eero Alev, Anna Škodenko, Jaan Toomik (EKA Gallery)
Tue 20.05. Sculpture BA I, supervisor Anna Mari Liivrand (EKA Gallery)
Thu 22.05. – Sun 15.06. Painting BA II, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Alice Kask, Holger Loodus (ARS Project Space, open Wed–Sat 12–6 pm Sun 12–4 pm)

Anu Jakobson’s solo exhibition “Finite_Jest.psd”
EKA Billboard Gallery 3.04.–25.05.2025
Open 24/7, free
Opening: 3.04.2025 at 6.30 pm

Anu Jakobson’s paintings explore internet culture by using symbols and images that are widely spread online. Much like ancient civilizations used hieroglyphics and stone carvings for representation to encode power, myth, and collective identity, Jakobson’s work similarly engages with contemporary symbols. The cloudiness achieved with an airbrush emphasizes the virtual, while the painting itself resembles a file of poor quality. By translating these fleeting digital symbols into the physical permanence of a painting, the work reflects a return to classical representation. It suggests that, in the age of excessive information, our need to document and decode reality mirrors the visual storytelling of past civilizations.

Curated by: Kaisa Maasik
The exhibition is supported by Tallinn City.
Opening drinks from Põhjala Brewery.

December brings an opportunity to experience, in an exhibition format, works produced by students in the Faculty of Fine Arts as their term projects: every day there will be a fresh crop of university students’ works on display in the gallery.

Works in animation, contemporary art, installation and sculpture, painting, photography, graphic art, scenography curricula will be on display. On each evening of the marathon, a new exhibition will be installed and in the following evening the exhibit will give way to the next one. Hopefully, viewers will be able to keep up with the pace of the young artists.

The assessments will take place in the main building of EKA (2nd & 3rd floor general areas, 2nd floor drawing classes A-205 and A-206, EKA Gallery; Kotzebue 1), in the new EKA building (Kotzebue 10) and at Uus Rada gallery (Raja 11A).

On the assessment day, the exhibitions at EKA gallery and the new EKA building (Kotzebue 10) are open from 3 pm to 6 pm, on Sundays the exhibitions are open from 12 pm to 6 pm.

SCHEDULE
Mon 2.12. Photography, supervisor Krista Mölder (EKA Gallery)
Mon 2.12. Drawing, supervisor Tõnis Saadoja (2nd & 3rd floor general areas)
Tue 3.12. Drawing, supervisor Eero Alev (EKA Gallery)
Wed 4.12. Drawing, supervisor Ulvi Haagensen (EKA Gallery)
Thu 5.12. Anatomical drawing, supervisors Maiu Rõõmus, Matti Pärk (EKA Gallery)
Fri 6.12. Scenography, supervisor Ene-Liis Semper (EKA Gallery)
Sat 7.12. – Sun 8.12. Scenography, supervisor Mark Raidpere (EKA Gallery)

Mon 8.12. New Media, supervisor Sten Saarits (EKA Gallery)
Mon 8.12. Photography, supervisors Marge Monko, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo NB! Uus Rada Gallery, the exhibition will remain open until 15.12.
Tue 10.12. Studio photography, supervisor Tanja Muravskaja (EKA Gallery)
Tue 10.12. Drawing (animation and scenography), supervisor Britta Benno (2nd & 3rd floor general areas, 2nd floor drawing classes A-205 and A-206)
Wed 11.12. Painting, supervisors Tõnis Saadoja, Mihkel Maripuu, Holger Loodus (EKA Gallery)
Thu 12.12. Animation, supervisors Lilli-Krõõt Repnau, Ülo Pikkov, Anu-Laura Tuttelberg (EKA Gallery)
Thu 12.12. Anatomical drawing, supervisors Maiu Rõõmus, Matti Pärk (2nd & 3rd floor general areas, 2nd floor drawing classes A-205 and A-206)
Fri 13.12. Painting, supervisors Karl-Kristjan Nagel, Tõnis Saadoja (EKA Gallery)
Sat 14.12. – Sun 15.12. Painting, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Alice Kask, Mart Vainre (EKA Gallery)

Mon 16.12. Graphic Art, supervisors Liisi Grünberg, Viktor Gurov, Liina Siib, Britta Benno, Eve Kask, Eve Kaaret (EKA Gallery)
Mon 16.12. Photography, supervisors Triin Kerge, Annika Haas (Kotzebue 10)
Tue 17.12. Graphic Art, supervisors Lembe Ruben, Mark Antonius Puhkan, Maria Izabella Lehtsaar, Paul Rannik (EKA Gallery)
Wed 18.12. Sculpture, supervisors Taavi Talve, Laura Põld (EKA Gallery)
Wed 18.12. Contemporary Art, supervisors Marge Monko, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Anu Vahtra, Maris Karjatse, Laura Põld, Holger Loodus, Kristi Kongi, Sten Saarits, Camille Laurelli, Eve Kask (2nd & 3rd floor general areas of the main building of EKA and the new building, Kotzebue 10)
Thu 19.12. Contemporary Art, supervisors Maris Karjatse, Eve Kask, Kristi Kongi, Camille Laurelli, Holger Loodus, Marge Monko, Laura Põld, Sten Saarits, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Anu Vahtra, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo (EKA Gallery & Kotzebue 10)

We are pleased to invite you to the opening of Kirke Kits‘s exhibition “Late in October” on Tuesday 29.10 at 18:00 at Täisnurga Gallery.

The exhibition “Late October” plays with the liberation of poetry from the regular print format. As a photograph, diary or painting, poems escape the anonymity of a book page for a while. The possibility of experiencing them is hidden in a specific time and space, and above all related to the present moment before the snow and the final devastation, the place of enlightenment of the senses and sensations before the soporific arrival of winter.

You can find Täisnurga Gallery by entering the back door of the Painting Department of the Estonian Academy of Arts (C201).

The exhibition is supported by the painting department of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

You can find the Täisnurga Gallery through the back door of the painting department (C201) of the Estonian Academy of Arts. The exhibition is supported by the Painting Department of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

The exhibition will remain open until November 8th.

Marleen Suvi
WE’VE NEVER LIVED IN A HOUSE
6.07.–4.08.2024
Opening: 5.07. at 6 pm

Marleen Suvi’s personal exhibition “We’ve Never Lived in a House” brings together 16 large-scale canvases to form a major installation, which concerns itself with the topics of memory and family.

The paintings are based on the artist’s family photo albums, and according to the curator Aleksander Metsamärt, the exhibition reveals two main themes: firstly, the relationship between memory and memory carriers arising from the paintings created on the basis of photographs, secondly, the theme of the private house arising from the form of the installation and the period-specific context associated with it. At the crossroads of the two themes, we find the artist herself, offering an insight into her own memories with an intimately personal and a paradoxical universality.

For the artist these times are past, her past which she herself cannot [retreat/crawl] back to. A past from which forms and figures emerge, that are almost familiar, but not quite just. Not like they are here, in this picture, in this apartment, in this year – somewhere in the mid-nineties, when everyone wore clothes made out of those materials, the feel of which, to this day, the nerve endings of your synapses can still sense somewhere at the back of your mind; clothes, that in their quaintness and slight old-fashionedness still manage to warm your heart.

Curated by Aleksander Metsamärt

Graphic design by Rainer Kasekivi

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Opening drinks from Põhjala Brewery.

May brings an opportunity to experience, in an exhibition format, works produced by students in the Faculty of Fine Arts as their term projects: every day there will be a fresh crop of university students’ works on display in the gallery.

Works in animation, contemporary art, installation and sculpture, painting, photography, printmaking, scenography curricula will be on display. On each evening of the marathon, a new exhibition will be installed and in the evening the exhibit will give way to the next one. Hopefully, viewers will be able to keep up with the pace of the young artists.

On the day of the evaluation, the exhibition is open from 3 to 6 pm, exhibitions held over several days are open from 12 to 6 pm on the following day.

SCHEDULE:

Mon 29.04. Drawing, supervisors Maiu Rõõmus, Matti Pärk
Tue 30.04. Drawing, supervisors Eero Alev, Britta Benno
Wed 1.05. the gallery is closed
Thu 2.05. Drawing, supervisor Ulvi Haagensen
Fri 3.05. Drawing and painting, supervisors Britta Benno, Brenda Purtstak
Sat 4.05. – Sun 5.05. Abstract drawing, supervisor Lembe Ruben-Kangur

Mon 6.05. Photography, supervisor Madis Kurss
Tue 7.05. – Wed 8.05. Photography, supervisor Marge Monko
Thu 9.05. – Fri 10.05. Painting, supervisors Eero Alev, Mihkel Ilus, Holger Loodus, Jaan Toomik
Sat 11.05. – Sun 12.05. Painting, supervisors Sirja-Liisa Eelma, Kristi Kongi, Holger Loodus

Mon 13.05. Contemporary Art, supervisors Anu Vahtra, Kristi Kongi, Camille Laurelli, Marge Monko, Liina Siib, Taavi Talve, Eve Kask, Laura Põld, David K. Ross, Jaan Toomik, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo
Tue 14.05. Printmaking, supervisors Maria Erikson, Merilin Metsamaa, Mirjam Varik, Lembe Ruben-Kangur, Sandra Puusepp
Wed 15.05. Animation, supervisors Lilli-Krõõt Repnau, Lucija Mrzljak, Anu-Laura Tuttelberg
Thu 16.05. Scenography, supervisors Liina Keevallik, Mark Raidpere
Fri 17.05. Scenography, supervisors Renzo Alexander Van Steenbergen
Sat 18.05. Drawing, supervisor Lilli-Krõõt Repnau
Sun 19.05. the gallery is closed

Mon 20.05. Printmaking, supervisors Eve Kask, Viktor Gurov, Erik Alalooga, Eve Kaaret, Monica Langwe

GENTLE GESTURES OF SELF
7.–31.03.2024
Opening: 7.03. at 6 pm

Participating artists: Andre Joosep Arming, Annamaari Hyttinen, Cloe Jancis, Maria Izabella Lehtsaar, Taavi Rekkaro, Johanna Saikkonen, Marleen Suvi, Elo Vahtrik
Curator: Kaisa Maasik

The group exhibition “Gentle Gestures of Self” brings together a selection of contemporary self-portraits. The paintings and photographs primarily depict the faces and hands of the artists, pointing at the emotions brought out by their facial expressions and gestures.

Culturally, hands are attributed with a great expressive power: in addition to conveying mood, depicting hands in specific positions can communicate deep feelings and meanings. Anthropologist Ethel J. Alpenfels has said: “Hands point or lead or command; hands cry out in agony or lie quietly sleeping; hands have moods, character, and, in a wider sense, their own particular beauty.”

The exhibition stems from a curatorial perspective focusing on relationships, inner experiences and moods. It approaches hands’ special ability and vulnerability to convey all emotions, even those that people have learned to control in facial expressions.

Opening drinks from Põhjala Brewery.

EKA Gallery
Kotzebue 1, Tallinn
Open Tue–Sun 12–18, free entry

More info:
eka.galerii@artun.ee

13.02-20.02 Alexei Gordin’s exhibition “This School Produces Useless Losers” will be open at Täisnurga Gallery.

The exhibition opening will be held on 12.02. at 18:00.

The exhibition is focused around the adventures of one artist in the world of Delfi comment section. It is said that there is no need to prove anything to anyone on the internet, but reality shows that users always want to prove something and what they say about art does not match what artists think about themselves. So who is right, and why does such a harmless phenomenon as art upset so many people? The exhibition consists of screenshots and found objects to which the artist gave a new meaning using phrases, slogans and puns inspired by the Delfi comment section.

Alexei Gordin (born in 1989) studied painting in Tallinn and Helsinki and currently lives and works in Tallinn.

Although he has a background in painting, Gordin fluently uses different media and works with drawing, photography, video, and performance.

The main subject matter of his artistic practice is absurdly stereotypical thinking and behaviour patterns of people in contemporary mass society. Gordin’s works are almost always narrative in nature and often cover exciting or annoying situations. In the early years of his career, filthy slums, empty industrial landscapes, marginalised and stigmatised social groups, and vulgar jokes constituted the core atmosphere of Gordin’s work.

The harsh reality of the art world has now become one of his main topics and the artist has himself become the protagonist. Scenes scattered with black humour deconstruct the image of the professional art world as something elitist and glamorous.

Gordin has won several photography competitions and in 2017 he was awarded the Young Painters’ Prize in Vilnius.

Täisnurga gallery is a project started in autumn 2023 by Karola Ainsar and Daria Morozova, which focuses on carefully selected intermediate stages and exhibiting newly completed works.

The gallery can be found by entering through the back door of the Painting Department (C201) of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

On Friday, 2 February at 5 p.m., the joint exhibition “Urge“ by Lisette Lepik and Brenda Purtsak will open in the monumental gallery of the Tartu Art House.

The curator of the exhibition is Kerly Ritval.

The exhibition brings together the artists and the curator to examine the diverse and mysterious nature of love. They explore boundaries and express in art what drives and fulfils human life: love.

Love can’t be truly expressed in words, is invisible to the eye, and is intangible, making it difficult to find, hold onto and let go of. It accompanies a person throughout life as a strongly beating urge.

The curator explains: “Brenda Purtsak’s artistic practice engages with the human body, drawing inspiration, among other things, directly from the operating table. By dissecting the human body with colours, she seeks answers to larger existential questions, such as: What is the biological force in the human body that pushes and pulls us toward each other? Lisette Lepik’s painting practice has focused on the body, sensations, sexuality and related traumas. In this exhibition, the artist expresses thoughts, feelings and fears related to love through her distinctive colour, composition and form language.”

The exhibition invites viewers on an introspective journey and into contemplation about desire, love, touch and fears, as well as the absence of love, searching and discoveries.

Brenda Purtsak (b. 1994) is an Estonian artist who graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a master’s degree in Contemporary Art (2022) and a bachelor’s degree in Painting (2020). She has been working as a lecturer at the Academy since 2023.

Lisette Lepik (b. 1999) is an Estonian artist based in Tallinn. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in painting from the Estonian Academy of Arts (2022) and furthered her studies in installation art at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts (2019). Since 2023, she has been working as a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Kerly Ritval (b. 1996) is an Estonian curator and critic who completed a bachelor’s degree in art history and visual culture studies (2020) and a master’s degree in curatorial studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts (2023). She also supplemented her curatorial studies in Iceland (2022) and recently furthered her education in New York, assisting in producing the performance biennial Performa (2023).

Graphic designer: Rainer Kasekivi
Poetry used in the exhibition by Andres Anissimov

The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment and the city of Tartu.

The exhibition will remain open until 3 March.