Kris Lemsalu 'Lord Got To Keep On Groovin''

Kris Lemsalu (b. 1985) is an artist based in Tallinn, Vienna and Berlin. She has studied at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn, Danmarks Designskole in Copenhagen, and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

Having studied ceramics at the Art Academy in Estonia, Lemsalu often experiments with traditional techniques to create her multilayered works. Animal body parts or delicate sculptures of clothing objects made of porcelain are mixed with found natural materials – fur, leather, wool – to create staged installations. These can be a self-sufficient sci-fi-like narratives, or alternatively act as a stage for Lemsalu’s own performances; sometimes the sculptures become part of her costumes. Although the themes are often chilling, dark or distant, and the overall finish is rough, Lemsalu’s works appear fragile and luxurious at the same time, highlighting the cynical aspect of art’s desirability, as much as providing an antidote to that cynicism by means of humour and irony. 

Lemsalu has shown widely both in Estonia and abroad. Her recent solo exhibitions include: "Afternoon tear drinker", curated by Hemma Schmutz, Kunstraum Lakeside, Klagenfurt (2016); "Beauty and the Beast", (together with Tiit Pääsuke), curated by Tamara Luuk, Tallinn Art Hall, Tallinn (2016); “Blood knot step by step”, Bunshitu Gallery, Tokyo (2015); “Fine with afterlife”, Ferdinand Bauman Gallery, Prague (2015); “Lord Got To Keep On Groovin”, Temnikova & Kasela gallery, Tallinn (2013); “Top Sinner”, Pro Choice, Vienna (2012); “EVIAN DESERT”, Tanja Wagner gallery, Berlin (2012); and “Being Together” (together with Edith Karlson), Temnikova & Kasela gallery, Tallinn (2012).