On Friday, 6 March at 5:00 p.m., Eva Labotkin, Irina Krivonogova and Margit Lõhmus will open their joint exhibition “Rootnet” in the small gallery of the Tartu Art House.
The exhibition features works by three artists that appear very different at first glance. The works of the three authors exist as personal landscapes, but their edges begin to blur – mixing, shifting and entering into dialogue with each other – like dreams that linger in the mind for a moment after waking up.
Bright colours, semi-abstract surfaces, plants and landscapes appear at first glance to be naively bright in the paintings and photographs. But behind the colourful surfaces of these images and objects, one senses a darker rumbling, a restless pulsing and intertwining of forms with weeds, blood vessels, stray thoughts, memories and daily news. The colourful foliage is not completely impenetrable, but it creates a filter, a protective net of distortion that hides and guards the mess both inside and outside.
“We studied together at the University of Tartu’s Painting Department. Currently, we share studio number 27 at the Tartu Art House. Initially, our work seemed quite different, but now we are beginning to see some common themes and mutual influences emerging, which flow from one artist’s work into the other’s, finding new contexts and directions there,” the artists explain.
Eva Labotkin (b. 1982) studied painting and Finno-Ugric linguistics at the University of Tartu (BA, 2006), and then began her creative career as a performance and video artist (MA in Interdisciplinary Arts, EKA, 2011). Her work in recent years has been mainly photography-based, but sometimes also includes installation or performative elements.
Irina Krivonogova (b. 1877) is an artist from Tartu. She studied at the Painting Department of the University of Tartu. She cultivates painting, with a focus on emotional and expressive landscapes.
Margit Lõhmus (b. 1985) is an artist and writer. She studied painting at the University of Tartu (BA) and the Estonian Academy of Arts, and glass-blowing at the Olustvere School of Rural Economics and Services. Her work mainly deals with personal themes, moving from the personal to the general and from the general to the personal.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
The exhibition will be open until 5 April.
Additional information: Maret Tamme, Producer of the Tartu Art House, produtsent@kunstimaja.ee, 5800 3882
www.kunstimaja.ee
facebook.com/kunstimaja