Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Acrylic, oil, collage on canvas. 2017.
Signature: MN 2017 / “KOLM AUTOPORTREED LANGEVA METEORIIDIGA” AKRÜÜL-, ÕLIMAAL, SEGATEHNIKA MALL NUKKE 2017

An artist’s self-portrait has always been a good measure of their abilities, at least since the Renaissance period, and has reflected the author’s self-position and identity. Mall Nukke (b. 1964), one of the leading artists of neo-pop art and indubitably the most famous female neo-pop practitioner in Estonia, presents her face in three dimensions here: a colorful self-portrait looks at us on a computer screen, a black-and-white face observes the surroundings in a mirror and a round-format face is highlighted by red lips and hair. There is a game of time and space at play. Nukke skillfully manipulates the impression of a surrealistic style of expression but in fact, the painting is realistic – this is what the corner of a room can look like. Trickery and intrigue are indicated in the work by a deck of cards as well as a meteorite, which is located in a separate space behind the painting.

““Three self-portraits with a falling meteorite” is a reflection on the mark we leave on the world. The impetus came from a Friday evening walk on the beach in Saaremaa when I watched for a long time an unknown luminous object enter the atmosphere (the sun had not yet set), which was so bright that it stood out from the background of the sky. I thought that if this was a meteorite, then these are my last 5 minutes on this earth and I took a picture of the object.

This incident gave me the idea to create a work that includes three of my self-portraits, one sculpture by Hannes Starkopf (created in the 90s and owned by me), one reflection from a home mirror and the third the result of a Facebook fantasy game where I was depicted as an astronaut on Mars. Which also happened to be the most suitable profession for me. The painting is a collage of my Facebook page from 2017. You can also see my friends from that time because Facebook remembers everything. And it will remain even if you go to another planet as an astronaut.“

Text: Harry Liivrand, Mall Nukke