Jaanus Samma & Edith Karlson, pop-up display of recent work

From August 22 to September 10, a joint exhibition of the works of Jaanus Samma and Edith Karlson takes place in Temnikova & Kasela gallery in a pop-up format.

This pop-up is prompted by Jaanus Samma's solo exhibition Iron Men, which, curated by Krist Gruijthuijsen, will open on August 23 at the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM). In Iron Men, Samma continues, through a suite of new works, his exploration and analysis of national narratives and representations of power through masculinity. It is also a continuation of the exhibition Samma curated at the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (ETDM) last year, where he investigated the use of national patterns and motifs in Estonian applied art and printmaking between the 1930s and the 1950s. 

The introductory artwork to Samma’s ETDM exhibition – Rug no. 17 – that is based on the traditional designs of Rudolf Lepvalts, is also exhibited in the pop-up exhibition here. Four additional works from Samma, initially from the 2018 exhibition Outhouse by the Church, curated by Eugenio Viola at the Nomas Foundation in Rome, are also on display – Collection of Toilet Pulls II & IV and Flaminio Station II & IV.

While planning the display and thinking of potential dialogue partners, Samma chose to include the works of Edith Karlson; two of which are shown here – Doomsday, from the 2019 exhibition Do Come in, the Door Is Open! Edith Karlson, Mary Reid Kelley and Eva Mustonen at the Kumu Art Museum; and What Happens in the Family, Stays in the Family from the exhibition Roots and Ruins curated by Rael Artel at Temnikova & Kasela in 2020.

Even though this pop-up, as a format, is inevitably not a conceptually curated display, it nevertheless offers a good opportunity to see and appreciate the commonalities between the works of two relatively different, yet still intriguingly harmonious artists – who can be seen incorporating sharp as well as nuanced social criticism, and playfully opposing to the normative pressures of dominant social values.

Text: Marten Esko