Sven Parker’s exhibition Walls, Panels, Fragments is open from the 3rd of August until
the 28th of August 2021 at Gallery Draakon in Tallinn, Estonia.
This exhibition is inspired by one of the first „westernized “comic book series published in
Estonia in the 1990s. Western narratives and characters entered Estonian storytelling soon
after the fall of the Berlin Wall, marking the beginning of a paradigmatic shift. As the cold
war ended, the capitalist ideology reached Eastern Europe and brought about expansive
commodification and transition to a new liberal-democratic mode of governance.
American political scientist Francis Fukuyama has described this time period as
“the end of history”, the disappearance of great historical narratives based on the tension
and ideological opposition between East and West (The End of History and the Last Man,
1992). Yet recent events have created new grand narratives, such as the fight against
terrorism, the climate crisis and most recently, the sometimes long bouts of social isolation,
to name a few.
Indeed, one can argue that history has not ended, instead becoming fragmented and a
commodity on itself, as suggested by the cultural theorist Fredric Jameson (Postmodernism,
Or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, 1992). The desire for capitalism has been given a
physicality, which addresses its own temporality and the space surrounding it. Following this
framework, the works on display are mapping out past collective experiences, with
fragments as starting points for historical narratives to emerge.
The panels on display are intended as markers of the period when western and eastern
narratives and imagery meet. They draw a parallel between fictional stories and historical
events from the past, presenting these realities as still frames in the midst of a
transformative change. The comic strips are applied onto the panels as a collage, mimicking
layers of wallpaper added and removed, portraying ideological fragments to be built or
demolished.
The art practice of Sven Parker can be described through installation, staging and the use of
different collage techniques. His current topics of interest include the relations between
butaphory and its surroundings as they appear through relational aesthetics. In 2011 he
received his BA in painting from the Estonian Academy of Arts and has pursued further
studies in the department of sculpture and installation.
The exhibition is supported by Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture, Liviko AS.
Exhibition photography by Roman-Sten Tõnissoo.