August Kunnapu
dal 23/4/2009 al 29/5/2009
Segnalato da
23/4/2009
August Kunnapu
Giedre Bartelt Galerie, Berlin
GDR - I love you. Pictures 1999 - 2009. In principle, Kunnapu stays a singular player, whose art does not fit into the frames of any mainstream artistic trend. Various critics have tried to identify his style with bad painting and post-naivism, as well as British neo-pop.
August Künnapu (1978) appeared on the Estonian art scene at the end
of the 1990s and immediately caught the attention of estonian
critics and curators. His first personal exhibition merited him the
title of the "prodigy of the new Estonian painting", whose
uniqueness and contemporary outlook produce a new sense of reality,
at once grotesque and visionary. The image of an exclusive artist
remains: in principle, Künnapu stays a singular player, whose art
does not fit into the frames of any mainstream artistic trend.
Various critics have tried to identify his style with bad painting
and post-naivism, as well as British neo-pop.
Künnapu himself has studied in London and has closely followed the
yBa activities, describing them as "original, smart, brilliant and
spontaneous", all of which can easily be applied to his own work as
well. The best visual comparison for his work seems to be Martin
Maloney, who also fosters naivist figurative painting. But unlike
Maloney's small comic-like narratives, Künnapu lacks the British-own
shock strategy, self-evident conceptuality and irony. His paintings
are characterised by sincerity and certain utopianism; his
deconstructions are friendly and reality shifts soft.
Elnara Taidre
Opening on Friday, April 24th 7-9 p.m.
Giedre Bartelt Galerie
Linienstrasse 161 - Berlin
Free admission