Mark Raidpere's solo exhibition “Damage” at the EKKM

2013 08 02 — 2013 09 08 at Estonian Contemporary Art Museum
Author Echo Gone Wrong
Published in Events in Estonia
Mark Raidpere, Broken, from the series Damage, 2012,  67,7 x 100 cm

Mark Raidpere, Broken, from the series Damage, 2012,
67,7 x 100 cm

This Friday, August 2, Mark Raidpere opens his solo exhibition “Damage” at the
EKKM curated by Anders Härm and Eugenio Viola.

Despite the fact that Mark Raidpere is one of the most internationally
known Estonian artists, his last solo exhibitions in Tallinn date back
to 2005 (Tallinna Linnagalerii) and 2006 (Kumu Art Museum), the last one
in Estonia was at the Kunsthalle Pärnu in 2008.

The year 2005 was definitely a breakthrough year for the artist:
Raidpere was chosen to represent Estonia at the Venice Biennale; he
started working with the Gallery Michel Rein, and in the same year, he
won the Hansabank Annual Art Award, which was the largest and most
important in the region at that time. The period between 2006 and 2013
was marked by solo exhibitions in Naples, Paris, Istanbul, Glasgow,
Hamburg and Krakow, not to mention participation in countless group
shows throughout Europe and in the United States. He also won the
Loop`08 Award, Gilles Dusein Prize and the Ars Fennica Award, all in one
year (2008), almost in passing. The more successful the artist has been
internationally, the fewer opportunities the Estonian audience has had
to see his newer work, if we discount a few group shows here and there.
One of the aims of this exhibition is to try and compensate for this
omission.

The exhibition titled Damage focuses on Raidpere’s work in the
post-Venice period by assembling mostly the works created between 2007
and 2013. The emphasis is on the latter years, and especially on the
photographic series and videos that were completed during his residency
at the Fondazione Morra Greco in Naples in 2012. Two totally new video
installations will also be completed for this exhibition.

It is probably not an exaggeration to speak about a shift in Raidpere’s
work after the Venice Biennale, when, the obsessive mapping of the
“family trap” and identity problems, which were his central focus, were
joined by considerably more social topics. At the same time, personal
themes have not disappeared from his work. The series of self-portraits
titled Damage, which was completed in Naples and which has given its
name to this exhibition, could in some sense be a counterpart to his
legendary Io, which was a series of post-traumatic self-portraits
completed in 1997. The title of the Damage series refers to a film of
the same name by Louis Malle.

Exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with essays contributed by
the co-curator of the exhibition Eugenio Viola and the French art
critic Judith Quentel. Foreword was written as well as interview with
the artist conducted by the other curator of the show Anders Härm.
Catalogue is designed by Jan Tomson, published in co-operation with
the Lugemik Publishers and with the help of two institutions that have
played enormous role in Raidperes life: Galerie Michel Rein and
Fondazione Morra Greco. The exact date and time of the presentation
will be announced separately.