Tag: Valdek Laur
LOOPS
From July 28, the exhibition LOOPS by Valdek Laur will be open in the VAULT of A-Galerii. The exhibition is free of charge for all visitors. The exhibition will stay open until September 2.
Exhibition LOOPS presents Valdek Laur’s commentary on the feedback loops created by cultural norms and stereotypes, which have influenced humanity throughout the ages. By intertwining science fiction and fantasy with history and myths, he seeks alternatives to contemporary ways of existence. In his work, Laur employs iron, bronze and silver casting, along with 3D printing.
The world is in perpetual flux. Countless feedback-amplified trends, or loops, are evolving, engaged in constant power struggles. Thoughts influence opinions and provoke actions, which in turn shapes the future. Thoughts and actions that find support gain strength and transform into ideologies. However, how often do we truly contemplate the direction of our worldview?
Ideologies profoundly impact culture, both in substance and form. Every symbol, sign, and word carries building blocks of meaning, which create jokes, stories and movies, but also belief systems, and mythologies. Each shape, material, and composition represents a belief and has its own field of meaning. At times, these fields resonate with societal attitudes, while at other times, they fade and slumber. Amplifying or, conversely, suppressing beliefs is one of the only few ways we, as individuals, can genuinely contribute to shaping the future. Hence, we must ask ourselves, what is the ultimate destination of our supported path? What do we actually strive for?
Valdek Laur is a multidisciplinary artist based in Estonia, intertwining 3D modelling, jewellery art, and sculpture. He is fascinated by prehistoric myths, speculative political science, and futurology. Laur has published articles, delivered lectures, and voiced opinions on the societal impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning. He holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising and media from Tallinn University and in blacksmithing from the Estonian Academy of Arts. His works have been exhibited in solo and group shows in Estonia, Latvia, and Germany.
LOVERS
They know themselves, move in parallel, bubble into pink slime and keep on going.
LOVERS are Vaida Suits, Mart Kekišev + Kairin Koovit, Liina Lelov + Valdek Laur, Adolfas Šaulys + Mari Relo-Šaulys
FROM TIME TO TIME
Vaida Suits
Vaida Suits (b. 1931) is an Estonian metal artist, whose dynamic work is characterised by a labour-intensive process, Art Nouveau forms and extremely fine skills in traditional techniques. Still, her signature style is always clearly defined and even laconic. Suits was the only woman working at the ARS Art Products Factory in steel engraving and later as a designer, creating both unique series as well as extensive commissions for institutions in Estonia and elsewhere in Soviet Union. Working as a jewellery designer at the Tallinn Fashion House her work was well received also in fashion shows in London, an extraordinary achievement for a designer from the Soviet Union. Praised for her impeccable work ethic and an original style, Suits has taken part in exhibitions from the Balkans to Norway and from Italy to Mongolia. Her works are in the collections of the Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art in Moscow and the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design.
As a tribute to Vaida Suits’ creative life of more than half a century, A-Gallery is displaying in its two windows rings, bracelets, necklaces and objects created from the 1960s onwards. There are examples of filigree, embossment, and engraving, as well as compositions of various materials.
TOGETHER
Mart Kekišev, Kairin Koovit
The material is composed of two elements, joined together and moving in unison, exploring boundaries between two people and possibilities for togetherness. The works are made of Damascus steel and in the mokume-gane technique.
Mart Kekišev studied at the Department of Jewellery and Blacksmithing at the Estonian Academy of Arts. For the last ten years he has worked as a freelance metal artist. For the past five years Kekišev has worked as a blacksmithing teacher in a vocational school. Last autumn he began his Master’s studies at the Department of Jewellery and Blacksmithing at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
Kairin Koovit studied at the Department of Jewellery and Blacksmithing at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has participated in exhibitions both in Estonia and internationally. Koovit has been an intern at Peter de Wit’s and Margareth Sandström’s studio. In 2011 she received the Roman Tavast Young Jewellery Artist Stipend and since 2012 works as artist and designer at Roman Tavast.
#ROOSAMULL @ROOSAILA
We like #roosaila #roosalöga #pinkslime.
Pink bubble oozes both pink spittle and pink slime – everything that is kind-hearted, tolerant and happy. Pink spittle has always existed, but only found its material form in May last year, when it became necessary to remind people that there is nothing wrong with living in a pink bubble. And so, the meaning of this derogatory term was flipped and converted into something positive and joyful. By now pink spittle has found its way to Sweden, Tunisia and the US, been part of countless protests, conferences, events, and been pinned onto the chests of many prominent suspicious elements.
The window exhibition at A-Gallery concludes the material journey of pink spittle. These are the last of spittles and slimes that ooze into the real world from the pink bubble. It is only appropriate that the symbol’s final presentation takes place in the only art jewellery gallery in Estonia. Very soon, everything goes back to normal again.
Pink spittle is created by jewellery artist Liina Lelov and Valdek Laur, a student at Department of Jewellery and Blacksmithing at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
LIFE 100
Mari Relo-Šaulys, Adolfas Šaulys
“Our good friends noted a few days ago that, our ages combined, we are now 100 years old. A+M=100
The exhibition highlights two significant traits of our joint work. One is exemplified by the socially critical exhibition “Viva la Vida!” (2005), part of our home pharmacies series, and the other by “Kaks õuna” (Two Apples, 2020), commenting on the show “ELU 100″ (LIFE 100), and continuing the tradition of gilding everyday objects”.
“The artists’ first larger joint exhibition „Viva la Vida!“ (2005, A-Gallery, currently Hop) focused on the high number of pharmacies in the city. The artists asked if it is better or even safer to live in a city, where galleries, theatres, cinemas and small businesses are replaced by pharmacies. Does the hope of immortality and taking right pills to alleviate lesser or worse ills makes us happier?” – Ketli Tiitsar
Mari Relo Šaulys and Adolfas Šaulys are Estonian jewellery artists, whose remarkable joint work has been well received both in Estonia and internationally. They have had 15 joint exhibitions and have together received the Ede Kurrel Prize from the Association of Metal Artists of Estonia in 2005, the Annual Award of the Estonian Cultural Endowment in 2010, and A-Gallery’s Vault Room Exhibition Prize in 2015. In 2002 they won the competition “Amber in Interiors” organised by the gallery of the Palanga Amber Museum.