Scenes from That Marriage
Anne-Mai Heimola, Karmo Mende
Nov 18- Dec 10, 2023

A duo of scenographers, Anne-Mai Heimola and Karmo Mende, have set up an emotional, language-defying installation with which they seek to guess each other’s experiences.  To create the whole, they utilise ready-made objects, large-scale paintings and custom lighting.

How do real-life experiences and communication build mental spaces? Whispers. Doubts. Misgivings. Suspicion. A corner of shame…

Karmo Mende (b. 1971) graduated from Tartu Arts School in 1991 and scenography at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1995. Worked at various theatres and TV channels as art director. Since 2000 has been living and working in Finland, where he’s served as head of the Finnish Scenographers’ and Costumers’ Union, plus artist at Seinäjoki and Jyväskylä theatres. Participated as a freelancer in numerous projects by other Finnish theatres. Recently returning to his native country, he’s also head of the Estonian Scenographers’ Union.

Anne-Mai Heimola ( b. 1960) is a painter and scenographer. She graduated from scenography at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1995, worked as set designer at the National Drama Theatre 1980-1986, as set painter at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre Estonia in 1995-2007, as artist, decorator, prop manager and costumer at the Von Krahl Theatre 2000-2012, and participated in numerous theatre and film projects as a freelancer. Member of the Esonian Artists’ Association and the Estonian Painters’ Union, she’s been participating in exhibitions since 1995. Her creative work also includes large-scale interior paintings. She experiments with a number of techniques from classic oil and tempera painting to her own inventions with earth pigments.

Graphic design: Kati Kerstna. Photos: Tiina Kõrtsini

Thanks to: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Rapla County Municipalities Development Foundation.

Of Surfaces, Lines, and Eigenraums
21.10-12.12.2023

Working in layered printmaking techniques shapes the artists’ modes of thinking; it is the language of the narrative. Seven artists have taken the tools of the printmaker, moving with them from the surface of paper into space. As a new mountain range arising, the question looms: can printmaking develop a third dimension? What will be its spatial properties? What sort of landscapes will artists generate in their varied techniques and eigenraums? Gestures, workshops and materials are undoubtedly present, endowed with a voice, part of the decision-making. Stone, paper, scissors, wood and fabrics – these are just a few of the substances possessing a voice and subjecthood on par with the author.  We address the essential, empirical questions of our artistic practice, while pushing the limits and potential of printmaking in the wider landscape of contemporary art. Every author has focused on one  particular technique, achieving  a masterful synthesis of conceptualisation and craftsmanship. The exhibition hall has become a universe of techniques: lithography, serigraphy, linocut, typesetting, drypoint, photopolymeric print, etching and so on.

Surfaces form landscapes which have ceased to be flat; even the warmth and porousness of paper, the indentation left by the matrix, the ink colours – all contribute to the tactile, textured, layered quality of the works.

Lines can, in the present context, be considered both as the framework of classic printmaking, and subsequent attempts to overcome them, as well as lines on paper – the building blocks of graphic arts.

Eigenraums are formed by stages of the process, materials, planned and random events that coalesce into single masterpieces or series of works. An eigenraum is defined as each artist’s unique psychical and physical space, with its characteristic interpretation and self-reflection. It is more than the sum of the artists’ work, encompassing their life experiences, world views,  and the new worlds they create.

Let us unroll the printmaking microcosms – we wish you a pleasant journey!

Artists: Britta Benno, Maria Erikson, Maria Izabella Lehtsaar, Mari Prekup, Lilli-Krõõt Repnau, Helen Tago, Kadri Toom
Curator: Britta Benno
Graphic design: Nelli Viisimaa
Thanks to: Rapla County  Centre for Contemporary Art, Rapla  County Municipalities’ Development Foundation, Cultural Endowmnént of Estonia, Estonian Academy of Arts printmaking department, Estonian  Printmakers’ Association, Graafika.ee

Open 21.10-12.12.2023 Tue-Sunl 15.00 – 18.00