Estonian painter Kristi Kongi’s largest solo exhibition, ‘Chromatic Drift,’ will open at the Kumu Art Museum on May 22, spreading colors and motifs across the floors, walls, windows and courtyard of the great hall.
‘Chromatic Drift’ is Kongi’s most extensive solo exhibition to date, featuring new works created specifically for this event. According to curator Ann Mirjam Vaikla, the paintings exude a darkness where pure spectral colors are replaced by earthy tones like purple, brown and burgundy.
“These seemingly burning landscapes speak of the aesthetics of the Anthropocene, where the collective perception of both ecological unrest and an uncertain sociopolitical situation has become a reflection of the modern world through the artist’s perception,” Vaikla said.
Kumu Art Museum Director Kadi Polli said the museum’s great hall is rarely entrusted for new productions. Among Estonian artists, only Jaan Toomik in 2007 and Kaido Ole in 2012 have created works specifically for this space. “Collaborating with Kongi during Kumu’s anniversary year is significant. Organizing an exhibition that encompasses not only the 1,000 square meters of the large exhibition hall but also the courtyard and windows is an extraordinary creative opportunity and challenge for both the artist and the museum,” Polli noted.
The exhibition is accompanied by a book in which U.S.-based Colombian curator Sara Garzón, art historian and critic Sirje Helme, and Vaikla analyze Kongi’s work and art practice. The publication contains extensive visual materials on the works created for the exhibition and the creative process that spanned several years, both in the artist’s studio in Tallinn and during her art residency at Cerámica Suro in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Kongi has participated in numerous exhibitions in Estonia and abroad. Her solo exhibitions have taken place at the Tallinn Art Hall, Tartu Art House, Kogo Gallery, Karen Huber Gallery in Mexico City and many other venues.
Her works are in the collections of the Art Museum of Estonia, Tartu Art Museum, European Central Bank and European Patent Office, as well as in private collections worldwide. Since 2017, Kongi has been working as an associate professor and head of the painting department at the at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Estonian Academy of Arts.
‘Chromatic Drift’ will remain open in the great hall of the Kumu Art Museum until October 11. Due to Kumu’s anniversary summer, Kongi’s exhibition and the museum courtyard will also be open on Mondays from May 25 to September 30, when the rest of the museum is closed.
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