On Wednesday, 10th of March at 17.00 ArtDepoo gallery hosts the opening of a solo exhibition of one of the most established young Estonian painter August Künnapu.

Exhibition “Masks” displays a new facet of Künnapu’s artistic production. Exhibited are 17 assemblages and 4 paintings, which are exploring the human nature through masks of different cultures.

Artist on the idea of series of assemblages:

„During a recent repairment I found some masks covered with light coat of dust. It was something moving in them, so I have been collecting masks from different cultures for about half a year now. Among the countries I can name there are Indonesia, Thailand, Egypt and Italy. The ideas of what makes mask a mask and creatures behind them were inspiring me. I wanted to paint them as my own (to paint them into my possession). That’s how the idea of dimensional was born.“

In the exhibition there’s also a series of portraits of Sudan’s Nuba tribe people with their face paintings.

„Nuba people treat their body as an art piece, supplemented and improved throughout life. They do those paintings themselves using natural color mud, oils and ash. The paintings of the faces are asymmetrical, spontaneous and sketch-like, expressing creator’s uniqueness. Important is the aesthetic side of the mask, not the ritual one“, says the author.

A series of paintings are dedicated to Leni Riefenstahl, whose camera-eye presented the culture of her idiosyncratic tribe to the world.

Central piece of the show is a large scale mask of Bali island inhabitant, which was created in cooperation with Vambola Mets.

Author’s special thanks goes to Vambola Mets and Peeter Salmela from Universaal-Universum. Organizers thank Santa Helena wines and Estonian Cultural Endowment.
Music of the show - Romb.

Exhibition remains open to visitors until Saturday, 3rd of April.