Eesti kunsti oksjonid

Oil on canvas. 1990-1991.
Signature: MARI KURISMAA DARK WATER

Mari Kurismaa (b. 1956), who left a distinctive mark on Estonian art in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is one of those painters who can combine metaphysical sensations and the mirror effect into a text-centric composition. Kurismaa shows that she is a master of perfectly even finishing of the canvas’ surface and enlarging a fragment to the point where the motif begins to live a life outside of art.

One could speculate that the artist is serious about capturing subconscious dreamscapes but Kurismaa is also a pop artist and a hyperrealist, and she has also praised wordplay and language games. Thus, paradox is also one of the meanings of the painting entitled “Dark water”.

Painter Mall Nukke says: “The glow of halogen on dark water seems like a frame from a movie. I remember the frames from “Jurassic Park” when the T-Rex came, whose arrival was predicted by the flickering ripples in the puddle. Something big is coming… In this painting, we don’t yet know who it is. But the unknown is always excitingly scary. Especially at night.”

Text: Harry Liivrand, Mall Nukke