Next to David Hockney’s painted pool at the Roosevelt Hotel during the Felix Art Fair, artist Kris Lemsalu and musician Kyp Malone will perform at sunset to celebrate the launch of the catalogue for the Estonian Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale.
The book is published by Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art and Mousse Publishing, with texts by Andrew Berardini and Tamara Luuk.
The event is supported by Consulate General of Estonia in New York and Estonian Ministry of Culture.
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“The work of Kris Lemsalu is pagan and it’s punk and it’s hers and it’s ours… It’s the lightning of heaven and the volcanic heat in the abyssal ocean. It’s the carnival of objects Frank-ensteined together into concoctions as fragile as life itself. It’s life.”
Andrew Berardini
This book will give you a peek into Kris Lemsalu’s explorations in art and life, which in her case are inseparable. The rich visual material – exhibition views mixed with analogue photos of Kris, her friends and collaborators; of her everyday work at the studio and wild parties she attends, is accompanied with essays by L.A. based writer Andrew Berardini and Estonian curator and writer Tamara Luuk.
Kris Lemsalu is Estonian born artist who creates mixed-media sculptures, installations and performances with unexpected materials, evoking the bestial side of human beings and civilizations which are often underscored by feminist themes. The book with texts by Berardini and Luuk—and images selected by the artist herself—provides an overview of Lemsalu’s oeuvre, focusing on “BIRTH V: Hi and Bye”, her biggest project yet, that was produced for the Estonian Pavilion at the 58th Venice biennale.
Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), founded in 1992, is a non-profit expert institution in international cooperation projects with a role to activate and develop Estonian contemporary art scene. CCA is the commissioner of the Estonian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
BIRTH V – Hi and Bye
2019
Editors: Maria Arusoo (CCA) with Kris Lemsalu
Texts: Andrew Berardini and Tamara Luuk
Design: Aadam Kaarma (AKSK)
Managing editor: Kaarin Kivirähk (CCA)
Publisher: Mousse Publishing in collaboration with Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art
The Estonian Pavilion for the Venice Biennale is commissioned by the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art and supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture.
