Siim-Tanel Annus

Paintings by Siim-Tanel Annus on exhibition curated by Haus Gallery at Maakri Kvartal (Maakri 19/21, Tallinn)

The selection of paintings curated by Haus Gallery on display at Maakri Kvartal originate from Siim-Tanel Annus’ latest creative period. Textured, seemingly coincidental and patterned canvases, blown-up microworlds — Siim’s paintings are actually simple, as the artist himself emphasises. Annus is fascinated by the recurring patterns of nature, noting structural similarities between a tree and the microscopic scale of a leaf. Although it may appear so at first, this is not a complex philosophy but simply the artist’s understanding of our world. In his own words, Siim sees the artist as an intermediary, a medium through which art is created. His task is to observe the world that surrounds him — go along with the currents of wind and water and take in all the lines and colours of nature, transferring them onto the canvas. Considered a living classic on the Estonian art scene, Siim-Tanel Annus brings forth the forces of nature, cosmic and microscopic events that are magnified on canvases and amplify into captivating and dynamic rhythms of texture and colour.

- Piia Ausman

Siim-Tanel Annus (born 1960) is a painter, performance artist and printmaker who earned his place in art history already in the 1980s with his pioneering performances. He trained at the studio of Tõnis Vint from 1974 to 1978 and in 1978-84, studied art history at the University of Tartu. Additionally in 1989 he studied printmaking at the Estonian Academy of Arts. The artist has held exhibitions all over the world out of which he deems representing Estonia at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997 and earning the grand prix at the Nanjing International Arts Festival in 2015 as his most significant accomplishments.