Photo reportage from Kristi Kongi's solo exhibition 'Water is an Eternal Witness. Colour Indigo' at Kogo Gallery

At Kogo Gallery, based in Tartu, Estonia, is currently on view a solo exhibition ‘Water is an Eternal Witness. Colour Indigo’ by painter and installation artist Kristi Kongi. The artist uses water as a strong poetical symbol to explore the beautiful fragility of complex emotions and builds an imaginative world in the form of aquatic landscapes. The show is curated by Šelda Puķīte.

This time, the artist’s gaze is turned toward the water, which has become a source of her observations during her frequent swims. For the artist, the sky is a universal symbol since it connects everybody, while water is a more complicated entity that is often perceived as mystical, divisive and scary. Water can save yet also drown, keeping the swallowed remains of our history in the depths of its belly. ‘Water is an Eternal Witness. Colour Indigo’ is constructed from oil paintings, cut-out silhouettes and small poetic notes, creating a safe space, a therapeutic pool to dive into.

Kristi Kongi (b. 1985, Tallinn, Estonia) is a painter and installation artist whose works are based on her observations, emotions and memories placed in specific or imagined places. She uses colour, light and space as her main world-building tools and installations as extensions of her paintings, often creating a “painting inside painting” effect. She is an Associate Professor and Head of the Painting department at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Her formal education includes a Master’s from the Painting Department of the Faculty of Visual Arts at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Kongi has a long list of solo and duo exhibitions and she has participated in numerous group shows in Estonia and abroad. She has been awarded several esteemed art prizes in Estonia, her works are part of significant art collections worldwide. Kristi Kongi is represented by Kogo Gallery.

‘Water is an Eternal Witness. Colour Indigo’ is on view from 17 May until 3 August at Kogo Gallery, located in Aparaaditehas in Tartu, Estonia (Kastani 42). The gallery is open for visits Wed–Fri at 12.00–18.00, Sat at 12.00–16.00.

The exhibition is funded by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the City of Tartu.
Special thanks to Caparol Eesti and Tanker Brewery.

Curator: Šelda Puķīte
Production and public programme: Stella Mõttus
Communication: Karin Kahre, Kristlyn Liier
Installation: Siim Asmer
Gallery space preparations: Karolin Konrad, Karoliina Tomasson, Melissa Tihhonova, Elisabet Vasur
Documentation: Marje Eelma (exhibition), Stanislav Stepaško (artworks), Nele Tammeaid (opening)
Graphic design: Aleksandra Samulenkova
Translation and language editing: Refiner Translations

The exhibition is part of Kogo Gallery’s this year’s programme Performing Existence. The gallery’s programme is designed to capture a certain vibe that embodies the emotional undertone of the events and questions topical in that particular moment and which define the contemporary zeitgeist. This year, Kogo is in dialogue with the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024, its programme being titled Arts of Survival.

Kogo Gallery is a contemporary art gallery based in Tartu, Estonia, founded in 2018. The focus is set on the younger generation of artists, currently representing eight artists from the Baltic countries. The gallery is committed to encouraging dialogue on important issues of today by running an extensive public programme alongside the exhibitions.