2023
Exhibition at Hobusepea gallery in Tallinn, 4.–29.05.2023.
For along the wall, down the stairs, outside works I’ve made since 2020 were brought together and exhibited in dialogue for the first time. These works – photographs, videos and found objects – were originally created for exhibitions in Amsterdam, Athens and Brussels. They reflect a process of observing and documenting situations, solutions and decisions in a city that is constantly under construction.
At Hobusepea gallery, these different locations intertwined and unfolded throughout the space. On the first floor, Athens’ Exarchia square met Brussels’ World Trade Center, while the basement level led further into Brussels, Athens and Amsterdam. Artist and film maker Ingel Vaikla’s film Conversation with A was included in the exhibition, created as a reflection on Goodbye air pollution, the future is here at P/////AKT, Amsterdam two years before. Ingel’s film functioned like a time capsule and as if closed a loop within Hobusepea: it showed elements that were exhibited in the same space, brought the Amsterdam context into the exhibition and created a soundscape for the entire show.
Another element tying the works to the architecture of Hobusepea was a spatial intervention in the basement, where the windows were removed to reveal an extended cavity — old light shafts that existed long before the gallery was established were in stark contrast with white gallery walls. This gesture created a new point of connection between the works and the building’s own history.
The title of the exhibition was borrowed from Anne Carson’s 1988 essay Chez l’Oxymoron. The exhibition was accompanied by a text contribution by artist Lieven Lahaye, with graphic design by Elisabeth Klement.
Thank you: Pärtel Eelmere, Maris Karjatse, Madis Kurss, Lieven Lahaye, Tanja Muravskaja, Villem Säre, Ingel Vaikla, Kristina Õllek & Kert Viiart, Johannes Säre & EKKM