Survival Kit for the Art Market
Photo report: The exhibition «Survival Kit for the Art Market» at the Kogo gallery in Tartu
Through August 14th Kogo gallery in Tartu is hosting the work by three Estonian artists – Alexei Gordin, Kennet Lekko, and Marko Mäetamm. The exhibition “Survival Kit for the Art Market” focuses on the madness, beauty, senselessness and necessity of the art market.
The fact that being an artist nowadays comes with the certainty of an ever present struggle is already common knowledge. Capitalism and creativity are in most cases opponents and just weirdly go along with each other. Of course, there are always other examples but the normal relations between these entities are complex and full of dilemma and paradox. How can anyone be freely creative when the market is asking for another aesthetic? How can we maintain a path of authenticity when the gallerist wants a certain topic and artworks of a certain size? The artist needs to juggle him/herself and their artistic production through this dense network of the constant overlapping of necessary individualism as a medium of recognition and the external expectations of the market and its players. But this story is not about victims, it’s a journey of discovering how to survive within these conditions, how to preserve one’s own aesthetic development from being too influenced by the environment and finally to use this situation as an opportunity, not an obstacle.
Berlin as a hub and European creative centre is a location where the poles of high and low crash into each other causing a wide gap between the establishment and the underground. This tension is fuel and danger at the same time. Money walks the same paths and is mostly difficult to redirect toward the upcoming scene where it is needed the most. A survival kit is unavoidable to offer orientation and support. The kit evolves out of artists’ observations and analyses synthesised into visualisations. A constant review of one’s opinions, positions and locations in this polarized art world was the topic of the artist residency that took place between March and May 2021 in Berlin, which was followed by an exhibition at roam project space in the center of Berlin. The Estonian artists Alexei Gordin, Kennet Lekko and Marko Mäetamm approached the topic during their stay in Berlin, focusing on the madness, beauty, senselessness and necessity of the existence of the art market. The exhibition is curated by Helene Bosecker, initiator of RAM – Rebel Art Management and the exchange art projects between Estonia and Germany.
After the show in Berlin the exhibition has travelled to Kogo Gallery in Tartu, which from the beginning has been part of this overall thematic reflection. The differences and wishes, expectations and failures of the artists regarding the European art market have their roots in Estonia and have extended from there. The urge to leave and come back will therefore be mirrored in the travelling exhibition, from Berlin to Tartu, with a survival kit to be safer in dangerous times for the art market.
The Survival Kit for the Art Market in Tartu is introduced as part of the Ecology – Economy thread, which runs through this year’s exhibition and public programme at Kogo gallery. The relationship between ecology and economy can be critically analysed by also looking at the inner ecology of the art market. Human economics and natural ecosystems are interdependent causing environmental change and social injustice. At the same time, such transformed economics as feminist and green economics could turn our focus as humans towards the idea of greater sustainability, a reconnection with nature, justice between different social groups and care for our world at a moment when such care is so desperately needed.
A view from the group exhibition "Survival Kit for the Art Mar-ket". Participating artists Alexei Gordin, Kennet Lekko and Marko Mäetamm, curator Helene Bosecker. Kogo gallery 2021. Photo: Marje Eelma
Alexei Gordin's paintings "By Appointment" (2021) and "Context" (2021) at the group exhibition "Survival Kit for the Art Market". Kogo gallery 2021. Photo: Marje Eelma
Alexei Gordin’s paintings at the group exhibition “Survival Kit for the Art Market”. Kogo gallery 2021. Photo: Marje Eelma
Alexei Gordin’s paintings “Untitled“ (2021) and “Artworker“ (2021) at the group exhibition “Survival Kit for the Art Market”. Kogo gallery 2021. Photo: Marje Eelma
Marko Mäetamm’s video installation “They say ... They say ... They say ... Fuck it!” that bases on his series of 20 drawings of the same title. Exhibited at the group exhibition “Survival Kit for the Art Market”. Kogo gallery 2021. Photo: Marje Eelma
Kennet Lekko’s paintings from the series “That Awkward Mo-ment” at the group exhibition “Survival Kit for the Art Market”. Kogo gallery 2021. Photo: Marje Eelma
Kennet Lekko’s paintings from the series “That Awkward Mo-ment” at the group exhibition “Survival Kit for the Art Market”. Kogo gallery 2021. Photo: Marje Eelma
