ARNE MAASIK “INDIVIDUAL SPACES”

Taidre writes: “The general dynamism of Maasik’s oeuvre could be described as movement from depiction of nature that strives for order towards the depiction of ideal architecture. The leafless trunks and branches of “Tangles” on the black-and-white photos have an aesthetic effect and are even graphical in nature. The entanglements and layers of branches, vines and straws create dashing patterns as if they were the embodiments of the quiet transformation of chaos into order.”

“Maasik’s later oeuvre, however, is represented by archetypical and timeless architectural objects and environments. These motifs are archetypical also in the sense that they are associated with the idealisation and even spiritualisation or mystification of architecture that has occurred in visual arts throughout time. If in philosophy metaphysics researches the basic principles of reality and existence or the world in general, then in arts metaphysical endeavours are mainly associated with the search for the “higher reality” that is hidden behind the reality of the everyday. The depiction of the real world and objects within it is a reference to another invisible world through a transcendental sensibility.”

Aarne Maasik (b 1971) has graduated from the Department of Architecture of the Estonian Academy of Arts. In 1996–2003 he worked as an architect in the company Künnapu & Padrik and afterwards has continued as a freelance artist. He has been awarded the 2006 Annual Award of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the 2019 Kristjan Raud Award. His previous exhibition in Tartu took place in 2016 in St John’s Church.