The exhibition EX POST began when Tanel’s father, a musician and craftsman, offered his son the pipes of an organ that was left unfinished with restoration work. The wooden organ was acquired by his father when Tanel was still a child and most likely comes from an old parsonage in Keila, Estonia. Initially, some of the organ pipes found their way to Veenre’s solo exhibition “Organ” at the Temnikova & Kasela gallery in the early summer of 2021, where the artist exhibited his gloomy series of jewellery on them. The pipes, however, stuck on Tanel’s mind and he started working with the wood – slicing, sanding, glueing it. He also involved his father in the process, who gave the finishing touches to the wood, and thus the exhibition pieces are a joint effort.
The exhibition that is spread out over two spaces – A-Galerii and Draakon gallery, located a few steps away from each other, exposes an army of pipes, otherwise hidden inside the organ. In addition to jewellery, for the first time, Veenre has also created jewellery for space. The exhibition features objects of sound and an installation of a flying organ. The miniature precious works on display in A-Galerii act as crystalline echoes of the large works presented in Draakon gallery.
Eliminating noise and achieving clarity of thought has been important for Veenre in creating the exhibition. The main materials used in the pieces are the wooden organ pipes combined with some engraved stone and silver.
“I have never before been so minimalistic, but at the same time, the organ pipes as a symbol gave me a powerful arsenal of meanings. Sound became the invisible inevitability of the exhibition – the wooden glow of the organ. If jewellery is considered “wearable art”, then for the jewellery of this series, it would be more accurate to use the expression “wearable sounds”. Each pipe has a unique timbre and sound that I tried to preserve. The more than a 100-year-old instrument from an old Estonian parsonage in Keila has reached its end destination and transformed into something new. One organism (organ = organ) is dispersed into fragments, each of which has its own being.” – Tanel Veenre
Tanel Veenre (b. 1977) is an Estonian jewellery artist and designer. Growing up in a family of artists and musicians, Veenre was interested in art since his childhood, and his art studies began in the art class of Pelgulinna High School. In 2005, Veenre graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts, majoring in jewellery. In 2014, he created his brand, Tanel Veenre Jewellery, which due to expansion into fashion and lifestyle from 2021 carries the name Tanel Veenre.
Tanel Veenre’s work has been recognized both locally and internationally. Among other honours, he is a laureate of the Kristjan Raud Art Award (2010), Estonian National Cultural Award (2016) and the Tallinn Fashion Week’s Estonian fashion design grand prix Kuldnõel (2019). His work has been shown at nearly 300 exhibitions and fashion shows around the world: from Berlin to Bangkok and from Amsterdam to Santiago. Veenre has also been awarded with the best display and curating award of the International Fashion Showcase at London Fashion Week and in 2014 he was the first Estonian jewellery artist to be mentioned in Vogue Italia. Tanel Veenre’s jewellery invites the wearer to believe in fairy tales, fantasy and the vastness of imagination.
The exhibition is supported by the Estonian Cultural Foundation and La Gioiosa.
