News > Miljard Kilk. Reality – inside or outside?

Miljard Kilk. Reality – inside or outside?

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An exhibition of the paintings of a distinguished Estonian hyperrealist, the uniquely original and highly cherished Miljard Kilk, is on display at Haus Gallery until October 21. The surrealistic figure compositions with mythological and religious undertones represent the artist’s creation over the last few years, providing an intimate insight into his inner world. Miljard Kilk’s present world appeals to both the viewer’s inner sense as well as their cognition of the outside world, suggesting there is no other reality but what we make ourselves.

On the picture: Miljard Kilk. Shepherd. 2016

“Miljard’s art appears to be a careful balancing act between the deeply pragmatic on one side, and the associative utopia on the other, walking the thin line between the two worlds that are quite similar and yet come with an entirely different input. The artist’s own-time hyperrealism – the expressly exaggerated real world which exists as an undisputed fact beyond thought – and his present day – the surreal, subconscious thought-provoking fantasy, which merges the religious narrative with a hint of the antique, create a mythology of its own. The Miljard mythology, in which the artist is the God of his self-created world, professional, self-confident and good. The Creator who respects grand dimensions and definitions. Miljard’s present-day painting transpires through resilient, mystified light and colour, bearing the messages cherished by the artist, the power of honesty, sincerity, free choice and true existential values. Titles such as “Europe with the Ox”, “The Decision of Paris”, “Spartacus”, “Leda with Swan”, “The Shepherd” or “Blue Moon” serve as a roadmap into the viewer’s own deep subconscious – instructions for reading the paintings for those familiar with the cultural history of Europe.

Intertwining with the artist’s own fantasy world, the story offered within the paintings is by no means an obligation placed upon the viewer. Rather, the Renaissance lies within the artist himself, utilizing history similarly to the ancient Italian masters to harvest the eternal classics and depict the tradition of sensibility within a human, regardless of time and space. That is how I see it, says Miljard, but let each and every one of you decide yourself. Just forget the titles and simply interpret what you see.

The light emanating from the paintings casts reddish shadows on the floors of the exhibition hall, with the figures passing from one painting onto another, exiting the space allocated to them, and compositions merging into a peaceful dance, drawing its strength from silence; Europe changes places with the Shepherd and the Blue Moon sheds its light on Spartacus’s fall into the recurrence of the sea as Paris tosses an apple to Leda. Miljard’s mythology is addictive, prompting the urge to be present, here, now and forever in order to perpetuate the moment created by the artist with power and conviction. Reality is everywhere, all at once – both within the fact, consisting of the space with seven paintings, and the thought-suspending emotion. Nothing is relevant, except sense. Neither the beginning nor the end, only the path traversing the depths lit by the artist.”

Piia Ausman, Head of Haus Gallery

The “Young Venus” exhibition of Sirje Runge and her contemporaries from the 1960s and 1970s will remain open on the top floor of the gallery until the beginning of October.

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