A solo exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence by Ukrainian artist and curator Alina Kleytman is currently on view at Kogo Gallery in Tartu, Estonia. The exhibition documents the ongoing crimes against humanity in the Russian war against Ukraine. The show will remain open until 13 January 2024.
This evolving project, which began in February 2022, comprises several series of artworks in different media. Alina’s videos are filmed at flashpoints across Ukraine and explore both bloody historical events and current military developments. Her large-scale sculptures use artifacts from battle sites as memory capsules, offering evidence to future generations and shedding light on pressing issues.
The name of the project references the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and is given with the aim of reversing the idea of forgetting trauma. The project’s mission is to record historical facts through artistic images and create multi-layered works that generate understanding of the real consequences of limitless human cruelty.
Alina Kleytman (b 1991 Kharkiv, Ukraine) is an artist, curator and conceptual consultant. Her artistic practice encompasses sculpting, video art and curatorial projects aimed at supporting young artists. Kleytman’s artistic approach can be identified as “hysterical realism” and employs provocation to spark dialogue. Her investigations subjectively embody today’s political and social realities through exploration of a diverse range of issues, from the boundaries of the psyche and physical body to themes of black magic, abusive relationships and depersonalisation through self-aggrandisement.
Alina is a recipient of multiple awards, including the Women in Arts prize for her impact on gender equality, awarded by United Nations Women and the Ukrainian Institute in 2021. She is also a two-time winner of the PinchukArtPrize for her works Super A in 2015 and Ask a Mom in 2018.
Kogo Gallery is located at Aparaaditehas in Kastani 42 in Tartu, Estonia. The exhibition is open for visits Wed–Fri at 13–19 and on Sat at 13–18 until 13 January 2024.
Endless Shine of Human Violence is part of Kogo Gallery’s this year’s programme Queer It Up, celebrating all that is positioned as fluid, different, unidentifiable, glitchy, marginal and uncomfortable.
The exhibition is funded by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the City of Tartu and the Estonian Ministry of Culture.
Special thanks to Tartu Art Museum.
Exhibition team: Alina Kleytman, Valeriya Plehotko, Stella Mõttus, Šelda Puķīte, Liina Raus, Karin Kahre, Kristlyn Liier, Siim Asmer, Aleksandra Samulenkova, Evelin Lumi, Marje Eelma, Refiner Translations.
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
View from the exhibition Endless Shine of Human Violence at Kogo Gallery, 2023. Photo by Marje Eelma
