PRESS RELEASE
SIGRID VIIR's (1979) personal exhibition Awful Pretty Pipe Neck will be open in Draakon gallery from Tuesday, April 26th, 2016.
Turn on the light.
Theories are buildings and sometimes they fall apart,
ideas are plants and they come to fruition,
mountain is a person who you could conquer,
anger is heat and fear is cold,
understanding is seeing, and seeing is touching,
problems are constructed objects that you could take apart, piece by piece,
time is money
you make my blood boil
see what I mean.*
*based on „Metaphors We Live By“ by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson
The focus of the current exhibition Awful Pretty Pipe Neck lies in applying the concept of catachresis to serve visual material. Catachresis is the clash of two metaphors, deliberate error for emphasizing something where contradictory notions are juxtaposed while ignoring the common use of the word. It is a strange, unusual, foreign comparison or association between two completely different things.
Metaphors play an important part in what is real for us. It is not only a rhetoric technique but a trope that influences reality and daily behavior.
The meaning of words is not related to their similarity with the world. A photograph should be rather viewed as an independent object than a representation. Awful Pretty Pipe Neck is a curious, arbitrary way to tell stories that are almost half-long, to change the direction of ready-made objects depending on the position between the objects and on whose eyes are looking at them.
Sigrid Viir
Sigrid Viir has graduated from the department of photography at Estonian Academy of Arts. Besides solo projects Viir is also an active member of the artist grouping Visible Solutions PLC that participated in Manifesta 9, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art held in Genk, Belgium. As an artist, Sigrid Viir is intrigued by social agreements, moral norms and rules that serve as implicit „tools of everyday life“, used for functioning in society; however, we often do not notice the tools since they are integrated too well. In her work, Viir combines the elements of photography, installation and video. She was nominated for Köler Art Prize in 2011; in 2013, Viir was awarded the annual art prize by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Exhibition will be open until May 14, 2016.
Thanks to: Villem Säre, Kristiina Hansen, Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo, Marco Laimre, Meelis Pääbo, Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Exhibitions in Draakon gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and Estonian Ministry of Culture.SIGRID VIIR
b 1979
Lives and works in Tallinn, Estonia
sigridviir.com
visiblesolutions.eu
Education
2009- Estonian Academy of Arts, photography, MA
2005- 2009 Estonian Academy of Arts, photography, BA
2007-2008 Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe, Media arts, Prof. Elger Esser (exchange studies)
2000-2005 Estonian Humanitarian Institute, culture theory (unfinished)
Solo exhibitions
2016 Awful Pretty Pipe Neck, Draakon gallery, Tallinn
2016 Import Export, Temnikova & Kasela Gallery, Tallinn (together with Jimmy Limit)
2015 Kim Wilde, While Shivering at the Bus Station and Biting into a Jam Doughnut, Hums a
Tune Inspired by Passing Remarks, Picks Dust Off Her Suspenders and Together with an
Egg Cell Analyses a Previous Experience with the Spirit of Tartu, Tartu Art House,
Monumental gallery, Tartu Art House, Tartu, Estonia(together with Kristiina Hansen and
Johannes Säre)
2015 Delta India Sierra Charlie, Draakon gallery, Tallinn (together with Kristiina Hansen)
2014 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky meets with Turritopsis Nutricula to admire the drifting swans
and discuss the possibility of neglecting the linearity of time in the near future, Haapsalu
City Gallery, Estonia(together with Kristiina Hansen and Johannes Säre)
2014 Purpose of the Universe and Flickering Funnel, Hobusepea gallery, Tallinn
2013 Sales Campagn, 1. May Pop-up Gallery, Tallinn (together with Taaniel Raudsepp and
Karel Koplimets)
2012 Routinecrusher, Wanderlust, Tablebear, ect, Winkelmann Gallery, Curatorial Research
Lab, New York, USA
2012 Visible Solutions LLC, B-Gallery, Turku, Finland (together with Taaniel Raudsepp and
Karel Koplimets)
2011 Sales Campagn, Monumentalgallery, Tartu, Estonia (together with Taaniel Raudsepp and
Karel Koplimets)
2010 Corridor, Tallinn City Gallery (together with Taaniel Raudsepp)
2010 Visible Solutions LLC, Hobusepea Gallery, Tallinn (together with Taaniel Raudsepp and
Karel Koplimets)
Group exhibitions
2016 7 Bucharest Biennale, Bukarest, kuraator Niels van Tomme (Visible Solutions LLC)
2016 International Fun, Temnikova & Kasela Gallery, Tallinn
2015 From Explosion to Expanse. Estonian Contemporary Photography 1991–2015, Tartu Art
Museum, curator Anneli Porri
2014 Society Acts, Moderna Museet Malmö, Sweden, curators Andreas Nilsson and Maija
Rudovska (Visible Solutions LLC)
2014 Survival Kit 6, Riga, Latvia (Visible Solutions LLC)
2014 Köler Prize 2014. Exhibition of Nominees, Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia
(Visible Solutions LLC)
2014 Exodic, metamatic:taf, Athens, curators Angeliki Roussou and Tatiana Kallergi
(Visible Solutions LLC)
2013 Where You End, I Begin, Tartu Art House, curator Anneli Porri (Visible Solutions LLC)
2013 Liquid Assets, Sterisher Herbst festival, Graz, curators Katerina Gregos and Luigi Fassi
(Visible Solutions LLC)
2013 Punctum, Draakon gallery, Tallinn, curators Kadri Laas and Annika Toots
2013 Romeo and Juliet, 1.Mai pop-up Gallery, Tallinn, curator Anneli Porri
2013 Come In, KUMU Art Museum, curator Renate Goldmann
2013 Romeo and Juliet, Y-Gallery, Tartu, curator Anneli Porri
2012 Archaeology and the Future of Estonian Art Scenes, KUMU Art Museum, curator Eha
Komissarov (Visible Solutions LLC)
2012 Strait Look, Pop Off Art galerii, Berliin, curator Sergey Popov
2012 V=ABC, Katarsis Project Space, Tallinn, curators Madis Luik and Nele Aunap
2012 Photoville, Brooklin, New York, USA, organized by United Photo Industries
2012 Manifesta 9, Genk, Limburg, Belgium, curator Cuauhtémoc Medina, associate curators
Katerina Gregos, Dawn Ades (Visible Solutions LLC)
2011 Generation of the Place: Image, Memory and Fiction in the Baltics, Tallinn Art Hall,
curated by Vytautas Michelkevičius
2011 Köler Prize, Exhibition of Nominees, Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn
2011 Museum Files I: Collected Principles, Contemporary art museum of Estonia,
curated by Anders Härm (Visible Solutions LLC)
2011 If it is Part Broke, Half Fix it, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania, curated by
Margit Säde-Lehni
2010 Welcome to the Machine!, EKKM, Tallinn, curated by Marco Laimre
2010 Annex 6. The Politics of the Invisible Hand, ART ISTKUKU NU UT, Y-Gallery, Tartu,
curated by Rael Artel (Visible Solutions LLC)
2010 Take Care, Art Festival Cesis, curated by Margit Säde-Lehni (Estonia), Daiga Rudzate
(Latvia), Virginija Januškevičiuté (Lithuania) (Visible Solutions LLC)
2010 Illusion of Inclusion, Vartai Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
2009 (F)akt, Gallery of the Estonian Academy of Arts
2009 Lendva, Art Depoo, Tallinn
2009 EKKM in Pärnu: When ätituuds become norms vm, Pärnu Art Hall, curated by Marco
Laimre and Neeme Külm
2008 Go Public: Pirates 2.0, Karlsruhe
2008 Positions from the HfG, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsuhe, curated by Anna Jermolaewa
2008 Oluline Mahakustuv, Y-Gallery, Tartu
2008 Sommerloch, HfG, Karlsruhe
2008 Up close and personal, Hobusepea and Draakon gallery, Tallinn, curated by Marge Monko
2008 Täppideg Tähed Säravad, European Union House, Tallinn, curated by Marco Laimre
2007 Something is wrong, Estonian Contemporary Art Museum, Tallinn: Tartu Art House,
curated by Marco Laimre
2007 Consequences and Proposals, Biennale of young artists, Tallinn, curated by Rael Artel
and Anneli Porri
Projects
2010 Tallinn Culture Capital, 52 Ideas and Suprises, Moving Citystudio (together with Taaniel Raudsepp)
Residencies
2011 Residency in KUMU Art Museum, Visible Solutions LLC (together with Taaniel Raudsepp
and Karel Koplimets)
Prizes and Scholarships
2013 Annual Art Prize of Cultural Endowment of Estonia
2012 Baltic Assembly Prize for Arts (Visible Solutions LLC)
2012 Pulse Prize
2009 Wiiralt Scholarship, Estonian Ministry of Culture
2009 Young Artist Award, Faculty of Fine Arts of Estonian Academy of Arts
2007-2008 Erasmus scholarship (Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe)
Books
Concise Visible Solutions, Visible Solutions, 2012
Bibliography
http://www.cca.ee/en/artists/sigrid-viir
http://www.cca.ee/en/artists/visible-solutions-llc
Articles
Indrek Grigor, Wilde's Summer Exhibition at the Tartu Resort. KUNST.EE, 2015/3
Anne Vetik, Purpose of the Universe and the Flickering Funnel. KUNST.EE, 2014/2
Anneli Porri, Kas on olemas nähtavaid lahendusi? Vikerkaar, nr. 7-8/2012
Anders Härms, Rahvusvaheliselt pärjatud Sigrid Viir ja Timo Toots. Sirp, 18.05, 2012
Indrek Grigor. Mis asi on OÜ Visible Solutions? Sirp, 16.12.2011
Hanno Soans. Kaasaegse kunsti muuseum suurendab panuseid-Köler Prize- Eesti Päevaleht, 07.05.2011
Taaniel Raudsepp, Sigrid Viir. Kunstitöötajate hääl. Näituse „Koridor“ rahastusskeem. Sirp eri,
11.02.2011
Anneli Porri. Follow the Invisible Hand. Studija no: 74, 2010
Andri Ksenofontov. Väliuurimuste andmed Suure Venna evolutsiooni kohta. Sirp, 14.10.2010
Andreas Trossek. Up Close and personal - Cheese no. 31, 2008
Taaniel Raudsepp, Karel Koplimets, Johannes Säre, Sigrid Viir. F(akt). Cheese no. 34, 2009
Sigrid Viir. Postkaart vanavanematele. Cheese no. 26, 2007
Catalogues
Liquid Assets, In the Aftermath of the Transformation of Capital, Mousse publishing, 2013 (Visible Solutions LLC)
Manifesta 9, The Deep of the Modern, A Subcyclopedia, Silvan Editors, 2012 (Visible Solutions LLC)
Sigrid Viir Works, Temnikova ja Kasela Gallery, 2012
Generation of the Place: Image, Memory and Fiction in the Baltics, toimetaja Vytautas Michelkevičius,
Tallinn Month of Photography, 2011
If it’s Part Broke, Half Fix it. Contemporary art Center (CAC), Vilnius, Lithuania, 2011
ART IST KUKU NU UT, 2010
Other
2016 Art Brussels, Temnikova & Kasela Gallery (Visible Solutions LLC)
2015 Paris Photo, Temnikova & Kasela Gallery
2014 Köler Prize‘i nominee (Visible Solutions LLC)
2012 Sadolin Art Prize nominee
2012 Member of Estonian Artist'sAssociation
2012 Pulse Art Fair, New York, represented by Temnikova and Kasela Gallery
2011 Köler Prize‘i nominee
2011 Member of Estonian Unioin of Photography Artist FOKU (www.foku.ee)
Works in Collections
KUMU Art Museum
The Carousel Collection
Private collections
Estonian Contemporary Art Museum (Visible Solutions LLC)
Tartu Art Museum (Visible Solutions LLC)