Frühling’s paintings are like spaces full of air and silence, allowing you to think about your relationship with yourself and others. By juxtaposing a woman and a chicken on the same canvas, the artist symbolically places herself in the same space with a creature about which she used to be ignorant. She thinks that this is important, because if injustice towards other species were reduced, it would naturally also be reduced in interactions within the human species.
With her exhibition, Mari Frühling reflects on the theme set by the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024: The Arts of Survival. “One prerequisite for survival is the ability to share space with those we do not understand. The paintings are a metaphor for the human intellectual culture, because our everyday use of language also shapes beliefs about other people and other species,” the artist explains.
Mari Frühling (b 1984) studies painting at the Pallas University of Applied Sciences. In 2024, she was awarded a painting scholarship by the Hotel Pallas.
The Hotel Pallas painting scholarship was founded by the Cultural Endowment of Tartu, the Hotel Pallas and the Pallas University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with the Tartu Artists’ Union to support the development of painting and the creative output of students. The scholarship is awarded to a single student or a group of at most three students. In addition to 2000 euros, an exhibition at the Tartu Art House is arranged for the winner(s). Previously the scholarship has been awarded to Mia Melanie Saar, Maris Paal, Caroliina Luhamets and Hedi Kuhi.
The artist thanks: the Pallas University of Applied Sciences, Hotel Pallas, members of the scholarship committee, the Tartu Art House, Kaspar Tamsalu and Mati Foods.
