Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on wood. 1998.
Signature: OLE / KAIDO OLE UNTITLED CXIX, 1998

The artist himself considers plank paintings, ball heads and still-lifes to be the most important categories his work, each of which forms a separate imagological image by which Kaido Ole can be unmistakably recognized. The 1998 exhibition “Body Experiments” at the Vaal Gallery put together a powerful combination of two of them, as if like a puzzle, and so his stubborn little dashed men began to rebel on the robust ceiling planks.

In an article published in Postimees on June 18, 1998, the artist explained the reasons behind the works depicting cruelty: “I wanted to deal with the subject in such a way that the image would not cause embarrassment but would be on an artistic level.” Art historian Eha Komissarov also wrote in the exhibition annotation that the violent themes acquired “a pleasantly humorous development. Violence lands in the soft environment of anecdotal absurdity.” (https://kultuur.postimees.ee/2546643/kaido-ole-kehalised-katsed)

This is exactly how the ball head twisted on the end of a wire appears here. Ole painted on planks brought directly to the artist’s studio from a neighbor’s apartment renovation. Upside down but still making his own way, the wriggling little man acts as an inspiring source of strength for breaking free from the tangle of life – a little more and solid ground will appear!

The combination of rough material and modern minimalist subject matter makes the painting an outstanding work of art, the rest of the pieces in the series largely belong to the contemporary art collection of the Art Museum of Estonia. “Untitled CXIX” is also reproduced in the book “Ole”, p. 115 (Estonian Academy of Arts, 2007).

Text: Katre Palm