Rait Rosin engages with the capital city phenomenon at Vabaduse Gallery
On Friday, 10 January at 5.00 p.m., the painter Rait Rosin opens his solo exhibition Capital City Phenomenon! at Vabaduse Gallery. The exhibition can be visited until 5 February, 2025.
The exhibition showcases mostly Rosin’s paintings from 2024, but also earlier works, such as sculptural objects made for urban interventions and videos documenting actions. Rosin examines the phenomenon of Tallinn as a capital city and emphasises its prominent position compared to other Estonian cities.
Rait Rosin: “The capital clearly and sometimes even too loudly defines the space and territory instead of other locations. Not only in the physical sense, but also as a mental realm. The perceptible boundaries of seizing space are entwined with the values mediated by culture and art. I find it important to go beyond the prevailing imageries and phenomena through directly perceived impressions, and to shape them into experiences through visual creation. More important than research aimed at generalizations is the revelation of the structure articulated through experience and the possibility of uncovering the ‘bone and skin’ that appears in this way.“
The current exhibition forms a dialogue with one of Rosin’s previous exhibitions Small Town Phenomenon that took place at the Pärnu City Gallery in 2019. The common feature of the two exhibitions is the absence of any surveys and observations at the level of sociological research, but an honest interest in looking at cities with certain established reputations as phenomena. The Pärnu exhibition focused on the small towns of Estonia, but through his exhibitions’ series Rosin has also engaged with the small towns of Paldiski, Haapsalu, Rapla, Rakvere, Valga, Võru and Kärdla. The artist’s interest in places outside Tallinn formed also the basis for his doctoral thesis defended at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2021 (Social Art as the Source for Changing Social Norms: Artists’ and Art Viewers’ Expectations in Estonian Small Towns, supervisor: Raivo Kelomees, PhD).
The exhibition at Vabaduse Gallery features also sound design by Juhan Vihterpal.
Rait Rosin (born 1981) is a painter who has also worked with performance, film and drawing. Furthermore, he has written philosophical texts on pragmatist aesthetics. Rosin received a bachelor’s degree in painting from the Estonian Academy of Arts (2005) where he continued also his master’s and doctoral studies (degrees received respectively in 2007 and 2021). In addition to his art education, Rosin holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the Tallinn University (2013).
More information about Rait Rosin’s research and interventionist practices can be found on the artist’s website: https://pragmatist.ee/.
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.