28 August 2020

[EN/EE] ‘Husa’ by Mari-​Leen Kiipli & Paul Kuimet’s ‘Crystal Grid’ at Kogo Gallery

Paul Kuimet, 'Crystal Grid' and Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
[EN/EE] ‘Husa’ by Mari-​Leen Kiipli & Paul Kuimet’s ‘Crystal Grid’ at Kogo Gallery
Paul Kuimet, 'Crystal Grid' and Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view

[EN]

The exhibition brings together the installation “Husa” by Mari-Leen Kiipli and series of photo collages “Crystal Grid” by Paul Kuimet. The installation by Mari-Leen, first created for Haapsalu City Gallery and exhibited in July fills the Kogo Gallery and expands to the yard of the Widget Factory. Series “Crystal Grid” by Paul Kuimet was first shown at the Tallinn Art Hall in Paul Kuimet’s and Mihkel Ilus’ exhibition “Endless Story” that was curated by Siim Preiman.

Mari-Leen Kiipli’s installation “Husa” depicts a fantastic garden. It consists of car windows, bent arma- ture, concrete, dripping water, second-hand jewellery, lace boots, Ensis shells, twining plants of Ipomoea genus, runner beans and raspberries. Mari-Leen describes her installation “Husa” as “a grove filled with thoughts, ideas and feelings as different poses, inspired by the lush urban and natural landscape. The in- stallation creates a scene carried by night winds, emotional mazes, cars, building lots, flying insects and movement of plants.” Mari-Leen seems to be interested in the connection of thoughts, ideas and feelings with the landscape and the spirit of different life forms.

The series “Crystal Grid” by Paul Kuimet consists of twelve photo collages combining photographs of tropical plants taken in the botanical gardens of Tallinn, Brussels, Glasgow, Brooklyn, Frankfurt and the Bronx. Kuimet uses the chemical magic of analogue photography to record the light conditions of green- houses around the world. The artist has then cut the photos with a laser, following the structural pattern of the Crystal Palace’s central transept. The Crystal Palace was built at Hyde Park in London for the Great Exhibition in 1851, and it was designed by Joseph Paxton, known as a gardener. It was the largest glass building of his time. To achieve a glassy surface on the collages, Paul has coated them with epoxy resin. As a result of this delicate and labour-intensive process, these works contain many associations, ideas and references to history and technology. Similar to his recent essay-film “Material Aspects” (2020), Kuimet’s “Crystal Grid” relates to the history of modernist glass architecture from the Crystal Palace to the present day hinting at the metaphorical connections of glass architecture to global capitalism, social structures and modern life.

Paul Kuimet, 'Crystal Grid' and Mari-Leen Kiipli 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view

The dialogue between Paul Kuimet and Mari-Leen Kiipli that is developing in the exhibition at Kogo Gallery, includes thoughts about different connections and balances between humans, man-made envi- ronment and plant life. Buildings created for plants, plants that take over the neglected urban landscape, crumbling unused concrete, new houses and gardens, order, flow, fantasy, beauty, light. As did 19th-centu- ry architecture critic Richard Lucae see in the Crystal Palace the ethereality of the barriers between us and the landscape, the disappearance of boundaries between interior and exterior[1], so does Mari-Leen Kiipli’s work often convey the blurring of boundaries between human and nature, focusing on sensations and body awareness while being in a state of active and dynamic relation to one’s surrounding – the state that is perhaps best for the perception of art and the environment in general, as well as for any creative process, whether it takes place in a laboratory, studio or somewhere else.


[1] Richard Lucae: “As in a Crystal there is no longer any true interior or exterior. The barrier erected between us and the land- scape is almost ethereal. If we imagine that air can be poured like a liquid, then it has, here, achieved a solid form, after the removal of the mould into which it was poured. We find ourselves within a cut-out segment of atmosphere. It is, in my opinion, ex- traordinarily difficult to arrive at a clear perception of the effect of form and scale in this incorporeal space.” – A quote found by Paul Kuimet, which was used in the exhibition “Endless Story” by Paul Kuimet and Mihkel Ilus, curated by Siim Preiman in the Tallinn Art Hall. The digital guide and virtual tour of the show are available on the website of Tallinn Art Hall.

Paul Kuimet, 'Crystal Grid' and Mari-Leen Kiipli 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
Paul Kuimet, 'Crystal Grid' and Mari-Leen Kiipli 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
Paul Kuimet, 'Crystal Grid' and Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view
Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view

[ET]

Näitus toob kokku Mari-Leen Kiipli installatsiooni “Husa” ja Paul Kuimeti fotokollaažide seeria “Kristallsõrestik”.

Mari-Leeni Haapsalu Linnagaleriisse loodud ja seal juulikuus eksponeeritud installatsioon täidab nii Kogo galerii kui laieneb ka galeriiesisele alale Aparaaditehase õuel. Paul Kuimeti seeriat “Kristallsõrestik” eksponeeriti esmalt Tallinna Kunstihoones Siim Preimani kureeritud Paul Kuimeti ja Mihkel Ilusa näitusel “Lõputa lugu”.

Mari-Leen Kiipli installatsioon “Husa” kujutab endast fantastilist aeda. See moodustub katkiste autode tervetest klaasidest, paindunud armatuurist, betoonist, vee tilkumisest, ehetest, nöörsaabastest, Atlandi kaunkarbi kodadest, lehtertapu perekonda kuuluvate taimede väänkasvudest, roniubadest ning vaarikatest. Mari-Leen kirjeldab oma installatsiooni “Husa” kui “salu, mida täidavad mõtted, ideed ja tunded kui eri poosid, ajendatuna rikkalikust linna ja loodusmaastikust. Installatsioon loob stseeni, mis on kantud öistest tormituultest, emotsionaalsetest rägastikest, ehitusplatsidest, autodest, tiivulistest putukatest ja taimede elust.” Mari-Leeni näib huvitavat mõtete, ideede ja tunnete seos maastikuga ning erinevate eluvormide olemus. 

Paul Kuimeti kaheteistkümnest fotokollaažist koosnev sari “Kristallsõrestik” toob kokku Tallinna, Brüsseli, Glasgow, Brooklyni, Frankfurti ja Bronxi botaanikaaedades troopilistest taimedest pildistatud fotod. Kuimet kasutab analoogfotograafia keemi-list maagiat, talletamaks maailma eri paigus asuvate kasvuhoonete valgustingimusi. Seejärel on kunstnik fotosid lõiganud laseriga, järgides 1851. aasta maailmanäituse ajaks Londonisse Hyde Parki rajatud Kristallpalee lae struktuurimustrit. Kristallpalee projekteeris aednikuna tuntud suurte kasvuhoonete konstrueerimisega tegelenud Joseph Paxton ning see oli oma aja suurim klaasehitis. Klaasja pinna saavutamiseks kollaažidel on Paul katnud need epoksiidvaiguga. Selle peene ja töömahuka protsessi tulemusena sisaldavad need teosed palju seosed, ideid, viited ajaloole, tehnoloogiale. Sarnaselt tema hiljutisele essee-filmile “Materiaalsed aspektid” (2020) on Kuimeti “Kristallsõrestik” seotud modernistliku klaasarhitektuuri ajalooga alates kristallpaleest kuni tänapäevani, mis aimab klaasarhitektuuri metafoorseid seoseid globaalse kapitalismi, ühiskondlike struktuuride ja kaasaja elutunnetusega.

Mari-Leen Kiipli, 'Husa' at Kogo Gallery, exhibition view

Kogo galerii näitusel arenev dialoog Paul Kuimeti ja Mari-Leen Kiipli teoste vahel kätkeb endas mõtteid inimese, inimehitatu ja taimede elu erinevatest seostest ja tasakaaludest. Ehitised, mis on loodud taimedele, taimed, mis võtavad unarusse jäetud linnamaastikus võimust, murendades kasutuseta jäänud betooni, uued majad ja aiad, kord, kulg, fantaasia, ilu, valgus… Nagu kristallpaleed kirjeldanud 19. sajandi arhitektuurikriitik Richard Lucae näeb Kristallpalees meie ja maastiku vaheliste tõkete eeterlikkust, piiride kadumist interjööri ja eksterjööri vahel[1], nii annab Mari-Leen Kiipli looming sageli edasi piiride hägustumist inimese ja looduse vahel, keskendudes aistingutele ja kehatunnetusele, seisundile, kus inimene on erksas ja dünaamilises suhtes ümbritsevaga. Ilmselt on just selline seisund ka parim nii kunsti kui ka laiemalt ümbritseva tajumiseks ning igasuguseks loomeprotsessiks, toimugu see laboris, stuudios või kusagil mujal.


[1] Richard Lucae: “Kristallil pole enam tõelist interjööri ega eksterjööri. Sarnaselt on meie ja maastiku vahel püstitatud tõke peaaegu eeterlik. Kui kujutleme, et õhku on võimalik valada nagu vedelikku, on see siin saavutanud tahke kuju – justkui pärast valamisel kasutatud vormi eemaldamist. Leiame end väljalõigatud atmosfäärisegmendist.” – Paul Kuimeti leitud tsitaat , mida kasutati Tallinna Kunstihoone Paul Kuimeti ja Mihkel Ilusa näitusel “Lõputa lugu”. Näituse digigiid ja virtuaaltuur on leitavad Tallinna Kunstihoone veebilehel.

Imprint

ArtistMari-Leen Kiipli, Paul Kuimet
Exhibition'Husa' & 'Crystal Grid'
Place / venueKogo Gallery, Tartu, Estonia
Dates6 August – 5 September 2020
Websitewww.kogogallery.ee/en
Index

See also