On Wednesday 1 November at 19.00, two new exhibitions will open at Artrovert Gallery – Tiiu Randmann-Mihkla’s light installation Garden of Souls and Mall Nukke’s New Icons.
Mall Nukke‘s “New Icons” are miniature paintings that look like Byzantine icons but are not: “These paintings are my own reflections and pictorial expressions of an apocalyptic present. The beginning of the 21st century could be described as Shakespeare’s idea that time is out of joint, and the last few years have been particularly turbulent. The accumulated tensions, which are probably felt by most people, I have depicted in my ‘new old-fashioned’ paintings’.
The icon’s narrative and illustrative simple imagery provides an opportunity to make sense of seemingly complex processes. The paintings are only superficially similar to holy pictures. What distinguishes them from the original models is their technique, created in a symbiosis of oil painting and collage, with the gilding technique adding to the similarity. The serious subjects have been transformed into something humorous and narrative. For, in difficult times, where do we draw strength if not from irony.
Tiiu Randmann-Mihkla‘s light installation invites you to take part in a special experience created by the light, sound and the visitor inside: “For us, the earth is connected to reality, it is our home and our work. I nourishes and covers. Here we raise our children and grow old. Equally important is the sky, to which we perhaps pay less attention. Yet it is the sky that we look up to when we try to remember something or seek answers to questions. When we are happy, it feels like the whole sky is shouting with us, and unhappy when plans fly against the sky. In beliefs, heaven is paradise and the home of the soul after the earthly journey is over. Heaven is full of colours, hope and angels.”
“When both artists approached the gallery with the idea for the exhibition, they seemed to fit right in with the November season of the soul – both artists are concerned with coping – coping with both physical and spiritual darkness, and so the sweetness and humour of Nukke’s ‘icons’ fit well with Randmann-Mihkla’s luminous clouds of light and Kammiste’s soothing music,” said Siim Raie, founder of Artrovert gallery.
The exhibition and installation will remain open until 2 December 2023. Find out more about the exhibition on our exhibitions page.
Siim Raie, founder of Artrovert Gallery, tel: 5076807, galerii@artrovert.ee.
