Keller, Mäetamm and Ole in Cesis

Contemporary art exhibition “Heroes of Our Time” will be opened at the Cēsis Old Brewery at 18 hours on July 25, which is the opening day of the Festival. Estonian artists such as Raul Keller, Marko Mäetamm, Kaido Ole are going to take part in the exhibition this year along with the Latvian artists Ojārs Pētersons, Monika Pormale, Anta & Dita Pence, Jānis Garančs, Kristīne Plūksna, Kaspars Podnieks, Sarmīte Māliņa & Kristaps Kalns. Exhibition is open from July 25 till August 30 (Tuesday- Sunday 11.00-18.00).

Cēsis Art Festival is taking place for the third summer in turn this year. Events in art, theatre and music will be available during the three weeks of the Festival in Cēsis. The Festival is going to take place from July 25 till August 15 this year. The participation of Estonian artists in the event is made possible by the Center for Contemporary Arts, Estonia.

From the press release: “For centuries, art has served as the mechanism for creating and glorifying heroes. Sacred art, the genre inclusive of official portraits and triumphal arcs, reveals the obvious status of art as a generator of myths. The development of technologies in the 20th century robbed visual art of its manipulative prerogatives – at least to a certain extent, for heroes were now being manufactured also by the movies, press, and television. Art had to find a new niche I in turning its own creators into heroes. This exhibition could be described as an attempt to establish the way in which contemporary art today relates to its status as a reproducer of myths – once a matter of course – and explore what it is that it holds worthy of glorification. The show as a whole strives to show the criteria for, “official portraits”, and relicts of heroes of our times.”

ART FESTIVAL CĒSIS'09 / 25.07.–15.08.2009
Heroes of Our Time
Participants: Ojārs Pētersons, Monika Pormale, Anta & Dita Pence, Jānis Garančs, Kristīne Plūksna, Kaspars Podnieks, Sarmīte Māliņa & Kristaps Kalns, Kaido Ole, Marko Mäetamm, Raul Keller.
Cēsis Old Brewery
http://cesufestivals.lv/


Estonian artists in the show:

Raul Keller (b. 1973) lives and works in Tallinn. He has obtained an MA in Interactive Multimedia at the Estonian Academy of Arts. He has exhibited predominantly in Estonia and is mostly connected with experimental sound art: e.g. in 2005 he presented Jammer Station, a radio performance as part of the exhibition “Radiodays” at De Appel Centre for Contemporary Arts, Amsterdam. He has also collaborated on a number of films, both as a videographer and composer. He has worked closely with Kristina Norman who represents Estonia at the 53rd Biennale di Venezia.
http://www.hot.ee/jamjam/

Marko Mäetamm (b. 1965) lives and works in Tallinn. Mäetamm received his MA from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 1995 where he also currently works as a dean. He has been working within the mediums of graphic art, drawing, painting, video, installation, live-animation, etc. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions both in Estonia and abroad. In 2003 he represented Estonia at the 50th Biennale di Venezia (together with Marko Mäetamm) with a project “Marko und Kaido by John Smith” and, again, in 2007 with his own project “Loser’s Paradise”.
http://www.maetamm.net/

Kaido Ole (b. 1963) lives and works in Tallinn. He graduated as a painter at the Tallinn Art University in 1992 and has had nearly thirty solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions both in Estonia and abroad. Currently he heads the Department of Painting at the Estonian Academy of Arts. In 2003 he represented Estonia at the 50th Biennale di Venezia (together with Marko Mäetamm) with a project “Marko und Kaido by John Smith”.
http://www.kaidoole.eu/

Picture: Kaido Ole, Ettevaatust tikud, 2006