Femme Forte
Photos: Marje Eelma
Photo report of the solo exhibition by Sahbīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery in Tartu, Estonia / Exhibition will run through April 11, 2026
Femme Forte, a solo exhibition by Latvian artist Sabīne Vernere, is currently on view at Kogo Gallery in Tartu, Estonia. The show is curated by Estonian curator and critic Maria Helen Känd.
With her new solo exhibition, Femme Forte, the artist Sabīne Vernere – previously known for working primarily with black pigments – turns toward vivid colour, taking inspiration from the sun itself. She invites us to imagine empowering examples of women’s self-realisation – stories that are scarce in recent Baltic history. There have undoubtedly been women in this region who led successful creative and professional lives despite the obligations and constraints placed upon them. Yet these successes often came at the expense of personal well-being.
The representations of the female in Vernere’s new works are imbued with an energy captured in the braided anatomy of joints and tissues and ready to burst out. Alongside them, enlivened figures are already moving, striving forward and upward. And there are also supple, tender hand- or budlike forms tentatively exploring the surface. Both Vernere’s earlier practice and her new, hopeful visions shape our understanding of free women. We witness figures who move forward with purpose to carve out lives of creativity and beauty.
View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Detail view of Veritas Temporis Filia (Truth, The Daughter of Time) (2026) by Sabīne Vernere. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Sabīne Vernere, Functional sculpture II, 2026. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Sabīne Vernere, Functional sculpture II, 2026. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Sabīne Vernere, Aspasia (2026) and Unapologetic Posture (2026), from left to right. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Sabīne Vernere, Unapologetic Posture, 2026. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Sabīne Vernere, Dynamis (2026) and Escadron Volant (2026), from left to right. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026.
Detail view of Dynamis (2026) by Sabīne Vernere. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Detail view of Escadron Volant (2026) by Sabīne Vernere. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Sabīne Vernere, Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit (Everything Changes, Nothing Perishes), 2026. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Sabīne Vernere, Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit (Everything Changes, Nothing Perishes) (2026) and Femme Forte (2026), from left to right. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
Detail view of Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit (Everything Changes, Nothing Perishes) (2026) by Sabīne Vernere. View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
View from a solo exhibition Femme Forte by Sabīne Vernere at Kogo Gallery, 2026
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Kogo Gallery is located in Tartu, Estonia, at Aparaaditehas, Kastani 42. The gallery is open for visits Wednesday to Friday from 12:00–18:00 and on Saturdays from 12:00–16:00.
