Maija Kurševa and Merike Estna: New exhibition cycle

Kim? is pleased to announce the opening of the new series of exhibitions - Disposable Gloves Guide by Merike Estna and Investigation by Maija Kurševa. The exhibition opens on July 27 and will run through to September 2, 2018.

Maija  Kurševa
Investigation

“I trapped myself in the line segment behind the table. I closed my eyes and tried to visualize. There is nothing there. An empty space. An unclear desire, an unrestrained direction. A bated breath, a firm hand, a black line denoting time. The point at which it appears is in an endless state of presence. The drawing in front of me is the beginning of what is to come. Page after page becomes the past. The only thing that the drawing depicts is that time has passed in creating the drawing. The drawing depicts only the time which has passed during its creation. The line on the page is flat, the strip of paper is a line in space. Page on page creates volume; line by line creates depth. Movement creates time. The heap of papers slowly diminishes. Pages densely cover the walls. The eye wanders, the mind tries to create coherence. I find myself in the dark, arms outstretched, trying to find a wall or beam. My thoughts light up the space where I am. I carefully watch the line’s movement, trying to find an idea which would give all these things meaning. I am a detective trailing myself.”
–Maija Kurševa

In Maija Kurševa’s latest exhibition emphasis is put on the spatial experience that guides the viewer into an associative tale that relies both on observation and suspicion that artworks possess an idea. Whilst capturing real and imaginary reflections, the link is formed between ostensible idleness and the notion of the creative process, between “the narrative of the absurd” or eventually “causes and conclusions,” bringing together everything that adheres to an “Investigation.”

Investigation is comprised of gouache drawings, animation, sculptural objects, and a comic.

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Curator: Zane Onckule
Project manager: Dita Birkenšteina, Megija Mīlberga

Merike Estna  
Disposable Gloves Guide  

Disposable Gloves Guide elaborates on a set of themes that have been present in Merike Estna’s practice. In her performative paintings and multimedia works in textile, clothing and ceramics, Merike Estna is contemplating on the technology led conversions in contemporary lifestyle, which inevitably contribute to reshaping the social habits of human life. In a society that praises the convenience of automatization, we undergo a restless acceleration that is distancing today’s society from the traditional labour. Disposable Gloves Guide questions the future of traditional labour and unfolds the contemporary social concerns we might be facing the end of the world as we know it.

The opening night will be complemented by Estna’s performance Red Herring (8–9pm). For the performance, the audience will be served artist-crafted potions on top of her painting as an invitation to drink and converse. It has since been exhibited at Chart Kopenhagen; Performa 17 and AIG, NYC and at Kiasma Art Museum, Helsinki. The performance at Kim? is supported by Absolut.

“Red Herring engages painting as a stage for human interaction. Merike Estna’s practice incorporates what she terms ‘performative paintings,’ with allusions to the digital and the nostalgic, and a romantic reverence for parts of human existence that are mutating, melting, or slipping away. Inspired by Aleksandr Pushkin’s A Feast in the Time of Plague, Estna plays with our ideas of Romantic forms of representation and social space.” 
–Maria Arusoo, Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia

genialmythcraft.com

Curator: Dita Birkenšteina
Project manager: Evelyn Raudsepp, Megija Mīlberga
Production assistant: Juhan Soomets

Kim? Contemporary Art Center is supported by: Ministry of Culture, the State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, VKN, Valmiermuiža, Absolut, Estonian Art Type

Merike Estna’s show is supported by: Estonian Ministry of Culture, Estonian Cultural Endowment, Temnikova & Kasela Gallery, Estonian Contemporary Art Development Centre