Siim-Tanel Annus

Siim-Tanel Annus’ artistic core is that of a seeker. He is known as a painter, performance artist and printmaker who wrote himself into art history in the 1980s with boundary-pushing performances. He attended Tõnis Vint studio from 1974 to 1978, then studied art history at University of Tartu in 1978–1984 and printmaking at State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR in 1989. His work has been exhibited all around the world, but the highlights have been representing Estonia at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997 and earning a grand prix at the Nanjing International Art Festival in 2015.

 

With specific technical tools and his own being, Annus aims to touch the universe in his art. His pictures are worlds free of objects, the motifs on them hint at being inspired by nature. With all that, the artist refers to the connection between the human senses and the experience older than time, from which something gets derived subconsciously, that something being perhaps more real than anything palpable. The artist experiments with materials and colors, working with fingers rather than brushes. Textures create the initial, skeletally visible idea.