Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Letterpress on paper. 1978.
Signature: MEES-MASIN I KÕRGTRÜKK 15/40 / Lapin 1978

“Man-machine I” is part of the famous and scandalous series by Leonhard Lapin (1947-2022), the author of the iconic “Bunny’s Kiss” and an Estonian avant-garde master. Alongside the “Woman-machine” prints, the series is an important project, interpreting the sexuality of both sexes in a Freudian and geometrized language of symbols, which the censors did not allow for public exhibition at the time of its creation.

Through his work, Lapin was a great admirer and promoter of the work of Kazimir Malevich and the pin clip in the left corner, assembled from mosaic fragments, has a black circle on its head, which is familiar from him. In its perfectly round shape, it expresses spirituality and a sense of high culture in the iconography. However, in other areas of the image, the same shape mutates into mechanical parts of machinery, the rhythmic movement of which seems to depict the flow of knowledge in and out of a man’s consciousness.

Text: Harry Liivrand, Katre Palm