New Tartu art exhibition explores tension between light and darkness
A new exhibition at Tartu's TYPA Gallery by Estonian artist Anna-Liisa Sääsk explores the tension between light and darkness that persists in today's world.
Sääsk's exhibition features works in the mezzotint technique and a room-filling paper panel, which the artist will cover with drawings on site over the course of two days.
The exhibition's title "Taming the Black" refers to the relationship between opposing forces –black and white. Just as the graphic artist works between these two forces, taming the halftones to obey her will, the same tension between darkness and light persists in the surrounding world.
From this tension, the central theme of the exhibition emerges: empathy.
Contrasting with the fast pace of opinions and attitudes in today's world, "Taming the Black" invites viewers to slow down and become more attentive and caring toward their surroundings. Empathy is understood as an active process – one that requires presence, patience and a willingness to be open, rather than taking sides. The focus is on the process, not on a firmly structured finished product.
In a world that tends to polarize quickly, Sääsk's work aims to remind us of something much more important: the need to care and be cared for, to feel the beauty and pain of other living beings as an integral part of ourselves. Remembering this can soften the boundary between "the self" and "the other."
Anna-Liisa Sääsk is an Estonian artist living in Georgia, who draws inspiration from traditional graphic techniques and attention to detail, while combining them with contemporary burning issues and newer media.
Last summer, Sääsk presented the exhibition "Let the Water Taketh Away" at the ARS Art Village GÜ Gallery together with Georgian artist Irakli Toklikishvili. The exhibition explored hope against the backdrop of the tense geopolitical situation in the artists' home – Georgia.
"Taming the Black" by Anna-Liisa Sääsk opens on January 15 at 6 p.m. at the TYPA Balcony Gallery in Tartu. The exhibition is curated by Inessa Saarits.
It will remain on display until February 8.
More information about the exhibition (in Estonian) is available here.
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Editor: Michael Cole
