5 – 29 VI 2018, E.Vilde muuseum / Kastellaanimaja galerii
With this exhibition, Jaan Elken conitnues his so-called ‘open landscape’ series, a period that can be traced back to the exhibition “It has been written” (2012) in Tallinna Linnagalerii, as well as “Strawberry fields” (2013) and “It has been written II” (2017) in Vabaduse galerii. Elkens work here is a form of landscape archetypes, sometimes autobiographical, sometimes representing a more universal experience. The white-gray rainbows reminiscent of something lost or yet to come, something the artist has described with the song lyrics “Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue…”
With these new paintings, Elken shows a firm handed purposefulness which is in dramatic contrast with his characteristic abstract expressionist brush work. As a result, the matter on the canvases has a structural and energetic character. The synthesis between Elkens own earlier hyperrealist period and the sense of space, and the stipulated abstract cityspaces places his new work in the context of art that draws its energy from urban cognition where inspiration is drawn from the fluidum of wastelands or city hearts filled with symbols.
Download the exhibition poster here (pdf).
List of paintings exhibited:
- Seinale kirjutatud VII / Writing on the wall VII
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 80 X 100 | 2016 - Nevada testiala I / Nevada test site I
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 135 X 150 | 2017/2018 - Ülelend II / Overflight II
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 160 X 200 | 2018 - SF Mission’i tänav I/ SF. Mission Street I
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 80 X 100 | 2018 - SF Vikerkaar ja pilvelõhkuja / SF. skyscraper and rainbow
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 200 X 160 | 2018 - Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 135 X 150 | 2017/2018 - Öine metroo / Midnight subway
akrüül, lõuend / acrylic, canvas | 135 X 150 | 2017/2018 - If you are going to San Francisco
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 135 X 150 | 2018 - Nimeta XIII / untitled XIII
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 80 X 100 | 2014/2018 - SF Mission’i tänav II/ SF. Mission Street II
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 80 X 100 | 2018 - NYC. Brooklyni rooste / NYC. Brooklyn rust
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 97 X 130 | 2017/2018 - Seinale kirjutatud III/ Writing on the wall III
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 135 X 150 | 2017/2018 - Valge linnamaastik / White townscape
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 135 X 150 | 2017/2018 - Seinale kirjutatud IV/ Writing on the wall IV
akrüül, kollaaž, lõuend / acrylic, collage, canvas | 135 X 150 | 2017/2018
View high-resolution versions of the paintings here.