Category: Painting

We are excited to invite you to our performance “∞Eight∞”.

The performance is created by Chia-Ling from EKA MA Animation, Mayu from Accademia Dimitri in Switzerland and Rikuo based in Berlin. We met in Prague last year and developed this piece together. Now we are very happy to share with you our performance on 09.04 in EKA!

This performance brings together a dancer, Mayu Shirai (Japan), a live painter, Chia-ling (Taiwan), and a musician, Rikuo Toyono (Japan).

Each collaborator explores IKIIKI—a Japanese term meaning a state of being fully alive in the present—through their own medium by only using a simple, universally accessible motif of the figure-8, seeking a balance between autonomy and coexistence. 

Their collaboration is rooted in improvisation and relational exchange, where each practice continuously influences the others. Beyond technical skill, the performers are chosen for their character, humor, and sensitivity to shared space.

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Performance will be on:
09.04 Thursday 
at 4p.m. 
A-100.1 (Trepid, Stairs next to Café) in EKA

Duration:
60mins+ 20mins talk!

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It’s free of charge and family child friendly!
Welcome to join with your friends, families and share your feelings with us!

On Thursday, 9 April at 6:00 PM, a duo exhibition On the Verge of Completion by contemporary artists Gerda Hansen and Rebecca Norman will be opened at the Hobusepea Gallery.

The end is actually an unspeakably bleak place where no clear way forward presents itself and nothing no longer seems to lie ahead. The duo exhibition by Gerda Hansen and Rebecca Norman invites the viewer to experience art not only as something definitive, but as a way of becoming. The exhibition reveals the stages of artistic practice that usually remain hidden, offering a chance to step into the moment where a work is born and where meanings have not yet settled.

The exhibition examines the boundaries between completion and incompletion, approaching finality not as a destination, but as a state in which the forward movement is temporarily suspended. The creative process, often shaped by uncertainty, experimentation and internal tension, is usually resolved when the artist decides to declare a work complete. In this exhibition however, the viewer comes into contact with the process rather than the finalised work. The presented works do not conceal their unfinished state. Instead, they emphasise its value. On these canvases, thoughts remain dispersed, forms and tones are still taking shape, and meanings remain open. It is a moment where possibilities remain unended and the potential of the work is still unfolding.

Perhaps completing a work is a merely provisional decision, a pause within an ongoing process? The artist appears here as a practitioner of continuous choices and interruptions, guided by an intuitive and often sensitive self-reflection. Imperfection, repetition and error are not deviations, but integral to the organic nature of making. As Gilles Deleuze suggests, artworks are not defined by what they appear to be at a given moment, but by what they might become. The exhibition offers an insight into the concealed layers of artistic production, presenting the artwork as something that unfolds over time.

In Hansen’s works, layered structures strive toward presence and transparency. Repeating forms and interruptions create a rhythm that does not lead to a solution but instead exposes different stages of the creative process. She is interested in the moment when a work of art dissolves and comes into being at the same time. In Norman’s practice, the notion of completion is examined through its various permutations including the use of unstable colour pigments. For her, the apparent incompleteness of a work is not a deficiency, and the abundance of potential is realised through the material itself. The tension between continuation and completion becomes a deliberately sustained condition, in which the work does not close, but remains in an active and meaningful state of breathing.

Artists                                   

Gerda Hansen (b. 1994) is a contemporary Estonian-based artist whose practice explores the intersections of painting and digital image-making. She holds a BA in painting (2022) and an MA in contemporary art (2025) from the Estonian Academy of Arts. In the current exhibition, Hansen brings together manual processes with AI-based generative systems. Her works emerge through a visual dialogue with the machine in which images remain intentionally ambiguous and leave the attribution of meaning to the viewer. Hansen has exhibited both in Estonia and internationally and is the recipient of the 2023 Adamson-Eric Young Artist Scholarship.

Rebecca Norman (b. 2001) graduated in painting from the Estonian Academy of Arts (2025), while also supplementing her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (2024). Her practice addresses the convergence and misalignment between the author and the material and the resulting dissonant outcomes. Her works often engage with seemingly insignificant moments that call for new forms of categorisation through sustained attention. She is drawn to utilitarian objects that have irreversibly lost their function and various forms of apparent nonsense that mimic purposefulness. Norman has participated in several group exhibitions and received the Endover Prize for her 2025 graduation work Loaded Vacuity.

Curator

Liisi Kõuhkna is a curator and project manager who graduated with a master’s degree in health sciences from the Tallinn University and has also an MA from curatorial studies and a BA in jewellery and blacksmithing from the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has curated contemporary art exhibitions in various galleries in Estonia and abroad. Since March of this year, she works as the gallery assistant for the Estonian Artists’ Association.

Exhibition information

Location: Hobusepea Gallery, Hobusepea 2, Tallinn

Opening: 9.04.2026 from 18:00

Open for visitors: 10.04–10.05.2026,Wed, Fri–Sun 12–18, Thu 12–19

Curator: Liisi Kõuhkna

Graphic design: Helena Pass

Photo documentation: Kail Timusk

Special thanks to: Estonian Artists’ Association, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Hans-Otto Ojaste, Mari Volens, Märt Vaidla, Paul Aadam Mikson, Jaana Kormašov, family members of the artists, Põhjala Pruulikoda, Nudist Drinks

Come to the book launch and panel discussion on March 31 at 6 PM!

Jurriaan Benschop’s Why Paintings Work was published in Estonian at the end of 2025 – now Kristi Kongi and Kaido Ole will discuss the book and painting, with the conversation moderated by Anu Allas. Everyone is welcome to listen and take part in the discussion.

In the book, Benschop navigates the multifaceted landscape of contemporary painting. By presenting the work of numerous contemporary painters, including Kaido Ole and Kristi Kongi, he seeks to answer the question of why a painting has an impact at all. In what way is it meaningful and convincing? He examines the visible aspects of painting, such as subject matter and use of color, and relates them to the invisible factors of art – the artist’s motivations, worldview, and background. The book touches on many themes that emerge when viewing contemporary painting: nature, the body, materiality, touch, identity, memory, and spirituality.

The book is published by the Estonian Academy of Arts, translated by Katrin Laiapea, edited by Neeme Lopp, and designed by Maria Muuk.

We will gather for the presentation and discussion in the new event corner of the EKA Library. We kindly ask you to sign up, so we know how many will be attending: https://forms.gle/h6aXonQvRpFiEHHW9

Time: March 31 at 6 PM
Place: EKA Library

The discussion will be held in Estonian, with no translation available.

Jakobson’s solo exhibition Downloads Folder creates a personal digital archive from random, hastily taken screenshots by preserving them on canvas.

The exhibition approaches painting as a way of remaining in continuous dialogue with a personal digital archive that was not originally intended for display. Through rapid circulation, the original purpose of downloaded files disappears; they persist more out of habit than meaning. The exhibition is concerned less with the images themselves than with their unsystematic accumulation and their slowing down through the act of being fixed in paint.

In a late-capitalist world oriented towards economic growth, productivity has become a sacred cow. Living within a constant flow of information, an ever-increasing pace of work, and social pressure demand more and more from us, without allowing time for reflection or interpretation. Transferring casually taken screenshots onto canvas is a conscious choice to slow down rather than rush, offering the possibility to organise what has been produced so far in a meaningful way and to take a pause.

The randomly selected images that form the basis of the paintings function as source material that is reworked through the artist’s process. The repetition of anonymous and temporary images through multiple layers of irony and subjectivity creates new images that no longer carry their former meaning and have lost their original, quickly consumable function.

Curator: Adrian Abner
Design: @gertworld

Anu Jakobson (b. 2005) is an Estonian visual artist currently in her second year of studies at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Her practice focuses on exploring online culture and its visual language, which she approaches through experimental painting methods, primarily using an airbrush. This technique allows her to capture the haziness and ephemerality characteristic of internet imagery. She works with images saved as screenshots from the internet and edits them according to her vision, in a way similar to how memes circulate, transferring this process onto the canvas. This method situates her work within the context of collective culture, as the circulation of memes reflects current events and broader value systems.

The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

From 3rd to 27th of February contemporary painter Brenda Purtsak’s solo exhibition “One day I shall be an abstract” will open for visit at ARS Art Factory showroom.

The self-portrait exhibition combines fragments of the artists selected family photos and and images of humans biological body collected into her mobile phone over the past years.

The artist and the concept of the exhibition has been influenced by the anatomical wax Venuses created by an Italian neurologist and wax artist Clemente Susini and Brenda’s personal complex challenges in recent years related to her physical health. The beautiful and adorned females internal organs created in the 18th century have been “cut open” in detail layer by layer for educational purposes. Ian Shank has written that such Venuses at the time were viewed as a microcosm of the Universe.

J. L. Borges has pointed out that the labyrinth is a metaphor for man and the universe, associated on a macro level with the center of the world and on a micro level with the human heart. The better you know the anatomy of the human body, the better you understand God’s own thoughts and his world. As if the eternity has been written into the human soul – every atom of oxygen in our lungs, carbon in our muscles, calcium in our bones, and iron in our blood was created in the stars before Mother Earth was born.

The main piece of the exhibition is a large-scale fragmented painting showing parts of the artist’s body, which describe the processes of healing and decay of the human body. The theme was born after years of battling physical illness and thoughts that arose after several operations. The paintings in the exhibition encourage viewers to think about what is the essence of a soul and what remains of us in the physical world after we pass. Within the paintings the environmental and physical landscapes that have surrounded us and will continue to do so will be at display. This provides input for creating connections between the two that are inevitable in our lives.

Brenda Purtsak (1994) has graduated her Master of Contemporary Art program in 2022 and a Bachelor’s degree in Painting (2020) both at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA).

The central point of her creation is human and playfulness between the borders of abstraction and reality. Purtsak mainly uses painting as a medium of self-expression, and in this exhibition also uses oil pastels.

At the end of 2023, a large-scale personal exhibition “Birth” was held in the Project Room of the ARS Art Factory and an overview exhibition of of works in four years called “Incision” in Haapsalu City Gallery (2024). The last major solo exhibition took place in September 2025 at Artrovert gallery under the title “Distant veils”. Purtsak’s works have been featured in various exhibitions abroad, and her paintings and stained glass windows have been exhibited in the premises of the Estonian Embassy in Hague several times.

The exhibition team

Location: ARS Art Factory showroom, Pärnu mnt. 154

Open for visit 3.02-27.02.2026, Mon-Fri from 12am–6pm

Curator: Liisi Kõuhkna

Graphic design: Rainer Kasekivi

Support and thanks to: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Artists Association, Indrek Köster, Ian Simon Märjama

Liisa Nurklik
WANDERING
Second floor of EKA Gallery 9.01.–15.02.2026
Open Tue–Sat 12–6 pm Sun 12–4 pm, free entry
Opening: Thursday, January 8 at 6 pm

Liisa Nurklik’s solo exhibition “Wandering” reflects on abstract painting and the accompanying desire to wander over a prolonged period of time. Explorations of color and surface allow one tone to smoothly shift into another; directions moving one way meet those moving oppositely. Playing with the boring of simplicity evokes a possibility for the painting to be longer looked at, lost and gradually rediscovered.

Liisa Nurklik is currently a third-year student of painting at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Her first solo exhibition “If I Were-a-Person” took place in the Showcase Gallery of the EKA library in the fall of 2025 and presented the viewer with a series of drawings made with charcoal, pastel and pencil, depicting various creatures and objects, skin and hair, and focused primarily on evoking a sense of the uncanny.

Exhibition texts by: Kirke Kits
Graphic design by: Sunny Lei
Technical support by: Ats Kruusing
The exhibitions at EKA Gallery are supported by the Sadolin Estonia.
Opening drinks from mirai™ and Põhjala Brewery.

We warmly welcome you to the opening of the group exhibition 

“The Hay Season. A Longing for Eternity” on 11 November at 6:30 PM, 

at Manufaktuuri 7/2, Tallinn.

From 12. November to 18. December 2025, artists Martin Mikson, Anna-Liisa Pärt, Paul Aadam Mikson, and Juulia Aleksandra Mikson present a joint exhibition “The Hay Season. A Longing for Eternity” at Manufaktuuri Quarter, Tallinn.

“The Hay Season. A Longing for Eternity” is an exhibition that reflects on the relationship between humans and nature, the passage of time, and the rhythms of survival. Once, haytime signified a period of anxious waiting and dependence on the weather – today, it has become a poetic metaphor for the longing for peace and balance in an ever-changing world.

The exhibition mirrors the artists’ personal and shared connection to familiar landscapes that are in constant transformation. “The Hay Season. A Longing for Eternity” invites the viewer to notice the rhythm of nature and reminds us how fragile our bond with it has become.

Martin Mikson is a scenographer and painter who has created numerous stage designs for Estonian theatres.
Anna-Liisa Pärt is a scenographer and painter.
Paul Aadam Mikson is a metal artist. Who works with large scale forgings.  
Juulia Aleksandra Mikson is a textile artist exploring the boundaries between materials.

All the artists are graduates of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Graphic design: Juulia A. Mikson

Supported by: Hepsor, Põhjala Pruulikoda, Õllenaut.

PoCo invites you to discover the sensitive and colorful world of young artist Marit Loitmets, where gentle nostalgia and the charm of being in the moment are captured.

Marit Loitmets (born in 2004) is a painter from Estonia, currently studying Painting in the third year of her Bachelor’s degree at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
At the core of her artistic practice lies the human being – with their natural details, fragments of forgotten objects, and the mystical nostalgia of the past. Loitmets’s work is characterised by a strong sense of colour, vivid contrasts, and a harmonious interplay of surfaces that create visual depth.

With this exhibition, the artist seeks to tell a nostalgic story – a view from a window where a hopeful ray of sunlight always shines through. In addition, she has explored lace pattern designs, translating their delicate aesthetic into a new medium and presenting them with a fresh visual interpretation.

PoCo invites you to explore the sensitive and colourful work of young artist Marit Loitmets. Her artwork captures gentle nostalgia and the beauty of being in the moment.

Everyone is welcome to join, pre-registration is needed.

Merike Estna’s solo exhibition “Ocean” in the large gallery of the Tartu Art House. The curator of the exhibition is Maria Arusoo.

At the core of the exhibition “Ocean” lies the existential coexistence of life and death, as seen through the perspective of motherhood. Merike Estna looks at the experience of motherhood in a complex and sensitive way. Alongside oceanic happiness and love, pain and loss are equally present, themes that are often brushed aside when talking about birth and motherhood but are very much present regardless. 

“Birth as a theme appeared in Estna’s work after her son was born and over the last four years it has become a central axis in her work. At first, it appeared as a prophetic ghost in a painting, created while the artist herself was not yet aware of her pregnancy and from there, it has grown and expanded. Estna is equally interested in the art historical view on the experience of motherhood. Another significant thematic thread running through the exhibition is the question of living painting – how to awaken painting, a rather static and hierarchical object, and make it communicate with the viewer – something Estna has been focusing on for more than a decade by now. At the Tartu Art House exhibition, visitors can witness the process of painting the five-part monumental work “Ocean” as the artist works on it every Tuesday. The painting is not intended to be completed but will be continuously added to during future exhibitions until the artist’s death, as Estna herself claims,” the curator explains.

Merike Estna (b. 1980) studied painting at the Estonian Academy of Arts (BA, 2005) and at Goldsmiths, University of London (MFA, 2009). She also graduated from the Tartu Art School (2000). Since 2025, she is the visiting professor in Contemporary Art MA at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Estna has received several prestigious Estonian art awards, including the Hansapank Art Award (2004), the Eduard Wiiralt Scholarship (2005) and the Konrad Mägi Award (2014). From 2017 to 2023, she was an Associate Professor at the Painting Department at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Between 2020 and 2022, Estna was one of the recipients of the Estonian artist’s salary. In 2026, Merike Estna will represent Estonia at the 61st Venice Biennale.

Estna has participated in international exhibitions across Europe, the United States and Latin America, including at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Querétaro in Mexico, Fundación Casa Wabi in Mexico, Publics in Helsinki, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Galería Karen Huber in Mexico, Bosse & Baum in London, Kunstraum in London, Galerie Georg Kargl in Vienna and Temnikova & Kasela Gallery in Tallinn. Her most notable solo exhibitions have taken place at Kai Art Center in Tallinn (2022), Moderna Museet Malmö (2019–2020), Kim? Contemporary Art Centre in Riga (2018) and KUMU Art Museum in Tallinn (2014).

Graphic designer: Martina Gofman
Translator: Keiu Krikmann

Support: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art

Thank you: Evelyn Raudsepp, Jaime Lobato, Aime Estna, Kõu Fortino Lobato Estna, Lumi Marisol Lobato Estna, Alma Cardoso, Jaime L. Hernández, Aleksander Tsapov

Brenda Purtsak’s solo exhibition “Distant veils” will open at Artrovert Gallery on 24th of September from 6pm.

Brenda Purtsak’s artistic practice has reflected themes related to human biological body, birth, death, family and kinship. The exhibition at hand combines all themes mentioned above through the lens of contemporary painting with the keywords of desacralized Christian art, compassion and self-sacrifice.

The exhibition addresses people as cultural artifacts and draws parallels between works created especially for the exhibition and well-known historical artworks such as Michelangelo’s Pietà sculpture and Madonna and Child paintings. The desacralization of these symbols allows the artist to address a wider range of personal and cultural meanings that are not associated with religion. 

Paintings, ceramic works and charcoal drawings are displayed within Brenda’s exhibition. The ceramic series derive from My Little Pony toy series that she remembers from her childhood. They consist of colorful ponies with unique symbols on the sides of their bottoms called “cutie marks.” These marks represent the unique talent of each pony and its connection to and the relationship with it. The ponies, people, and charcoal drawings in Brenda’s paintings may at first glance seem unfinished and somehow collaged together. However, human memories are mostly not crystal clear or possible to freeze to take a deeper look the same way as photography or film enables to do. As time passes new layers are added or we might discover some that we had not realised existed before.

The exhibition team

Location: Artrovert Gallery, Ristiku tn 10, Tallinn

Opening: 24.09, from 6pm

Open: 24.09–01.11.25, Tue-Sat 12am–6pm

Curator: Liisi Kõuhkna

Graphic design: Rainer Kasekivi

Support and thanks to: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Artrovert Gallery, Brenda’s family, Maria Elise Remme, Keithy Kuuspu, Ian Simon Märjamaa