On Friday, December 12, at 6 p.m., the Estonian painters Manfred Dubov and Marta Stratskas will open their shared exhibition ABOVE AND BELOW at Vabaduse Gallery. The exhibition will remain until January 14, 2026.
I want to depict human tissue,
soul-tissue, room-tissue, time.
Joints, muscles, plants, blossoms,
the dark, movement, the horror, happiness. Discussion within. It is not important anymore, whether my creation is an image, it is life’s reflection.
My painting now paints me.
— Image of a Human Tissue. Excerpt from the book Revellers in the Dark by Manfred Dubov (2022).
MANFRED DUBOV (b. 1986) is a painter based in Tallinn whose oil paintings depict states of being, exploring the connections between the personal and the collective, the physical and the metaphysical. The sizes of the paintings vary, but they tend to be large-scale in order to give the effect of “color concerts”. The entire experience of painting is a systematic activity in which experiences are filtered through the so-called “soul canvas”, resulting in notes and sketches that later all find their way onto the canvas in some form. Many of the motifs depicted originate from the artist’s personal life.
After graduating from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a degree in painting (2010), Dubov has had many solo exhibitions across Estonia (Haapsalu City Gallery, 2023; Hobusepea Gallery, 2020, 2013, 2011; Vaal Gallery, 2018; Tartu Art House, 2011) and he has participated in numerous group exhibitions (Kuressaare Castle Gallery, 2025; NART, 2022–2023). He has published two collections of poetry, the first of which, Täna leitakse kõik üles (2016), was nominated for the Betti Alver Literary Award.
MARTA STRATSKAS (b. 1986) is an Estonian painter living in Berlin whose dreamlike works blend mythological motifs, archetypal and everyday images that, when intertwined, depict personal and intimate states derived from collective experience. The pictorial surfaces are layered and poetic; contemporary visual references as well as allusions to the classical, juxtapose the personal and the collective. The mood of the paintings fluctuates between the sacred and the secular. The painted figures settle into an atmosphere carried by colour and rhythm, where pastel yet saturated tones seek a balance between sensitivity and power.
Stratskas graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts with a master’s degree in painting (2016). Since 2009, she has participated in various group exhibitions (Vaal Gallery, 2025; Pärnu Museum of New Art, 2025; LITE-HAUS Galerie, 2025) and has created several many solo exhibitions both in Estonia and Berlin (Living Gallery Berlin, 2019; Vaal Gallery, 2016, 2014; Hobusepea Gallery, 2014; Tartu Art House 2014, 2011).
The artists would like to thank: Carolina Pihelgas, Holger Mäeotsa.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
The gallery is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, and Liviko Ltd.
Vabaduse Gallery is managed by the Estonian Artists’ Association.