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15.10.2018
Still Stands and Resilient Nows,
solo show,
Tallinn Art Hall
Photo: Karel Koplimets, Tallinn Art Hall
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The ambivalent language of clay and concrete at City Gallery
From 19 October, a solo exhibition by Evita Vasiljeva titled “Still Stands and Resilient Nows” will be open at Tallinn City Gallery. Vasiljeva’s first exhibition in Estonia speaks of continuous movement, uncertainty, and possibilities.
The opening will take place on Thursday 18 October at 6pm and the exhibition will be open until 25 November.
Evita Vasiljeva’s work first strikes us with its weight – cast concrete forms with various lengths of steel armature poking out of it are a testimony to hard physical labour. This physicality of the work effortlessly connects her practice with the long tradition of sculpture. It is unclear whether the objects are still coming to be or already in a state of decay, which leaves us hovering somewhere between different times. “Still Stands and Resilient Nows” will also feature new ceramic works created during Vasiljeva’s residence at European Ceramic Work Center (EKWC) in The Netherlands.
Art critic Santa Remere has described the artist’s palette as consisting of “raw construction materials, the sharp and primitive threads with which humans weave their world. Vasiļjeva is interested in the lining—the inside—of this world, which is usually hidden from the eye or is consciously unnoticed. She is attracted to negative space, the repair zone which our eyes are accustomed to excluding from our general impressions. Almost maniacally, she does not believe in the rendered, plastered and polished surface.”
““Still Stands” are intricate and abstract mental constructions. The clay is cracked by steel rods, which penetrate and characterize the structures. The great heat of the making is laid open to view. “Still Stands” are the emblems of timeless duality. The intangible is intertwined with the sculpture,” Vasiljeva describes the works that lend her exhibition part of its title.
The exhibition is co-produced by Tallinn Art Hall and Kim? Contemporary Art Center
Special thanks: Estonian Cultural Endowment, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Tallinn Department of Culture, Veinisõber, Sadolin, Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation Latvia, Stichting Niemeijer Fonds, Sundaymorning@EKWC, Mondriaan Fund, HIAP, Sarah Boulton, Corinna Helenelund, Arita Varzinska
Evita Vasiljeva ©
