On Friday, 29 October at 6pm Edith Karlson opens her new solo exhibition ‘Return to Innocence’ at the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM).
Exhibiting on all three floors of the museum, Karlson turns her gaze towards the darker, filthier, funnier and gentler side of existence. The exhibition rooms at EKKM are transformed into spaces, where we come across all sorts of unexpected objects – terracotta eternity and Virgin Mary, an orchid and a bell jar, a tiny Christ and never-ending Enya. In addition to Karlson’s original pieces, the show also includes artworks from the Art Museum of Estonia, the Estonian History Museum, the Tartu City Museum and the archaeological research collection of the Tallinn University.
Edith Karlson is a sculptor, working with animalistic and brutal characters, untouched by the anguish of civilisation. The rough detailing of the surfaces, the seemingly unfinished and grotesque swollen form of Karlson’s sculptures speak to the undercurrents of our dark urges and primal horizons. Karlson’s work also invites more abstract questions of desires, death, sexuality and sacredness, offering a more raw and bodily experience instead of affirmation or negation of capitalism – it is the triumph of abject.
Artist: Edith Karlson; curator: Eero Epner; spatial design: Arthur Arula;
lighting design: Oliver Kulpsoo; graphic designer: Margus Tamm.
Opening of the exhibition is held on 29 October at 6pm.
The exhibition is open until 12 December.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of Culture, Alas-Kuul, Overall, Wienerberger, Wolf Group (Penosil), Akzo Nobel Baltics, friends of Edith Karlson.
The exhibition is accompanied by tours in English, Estonian and Russian.
Tours are for free but pre-booking is required via links below.