Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Letterpress on paper. 1975.
Signature: NAINE-MASIN IV KÕRGTRÜKK A. E. IX / Lapin 1975

Alongside his grandiose ideas, Leohard Lapin (1947-2022) was also a human being and it is therefore natural that his work was full of fascinating contradictions. Generally, art historians, when discussing his work, only discuss machine romanticism, failing to notice the artist’s other pieces that might have contradicted this.

In the case of Lapin’s “Machine” series, the words of the famous avant-garde artist are often quoted, glorifying industrialization, the “human-machine diapason” as an integral part of nature, and a new ecological relationship for which an ethical ideal had to be found. Alongside these, Lapin also approached the topic from another angle, for example in a work called “Video Power,” which contained a certain caution regarding the potential supremacy of machines.

The artist’s “Woman-Machine” series of graphic prints still evokes a nerve-wracking intrigue today. Now, in the 21st century, looking at his works, we can see that the issue is no longer so much about the relationship between man and machine, but rather between man and nature. What role each of us takes today and right here.

“Woman-Machine IV” is also currently on display at Kumu, at a memorial exhibition to the legendary “Harku 1975” that shook the Estonian art world. In addition to Leonhard Lapin, the organizers of the 1975 exhibition included Sirje Runge, Raul Meel, and Tõnu Karu.

Text: Vappu Thurlow