Parodos
ESTONIAN RIOTER ANDRUS JOONAS AT KCCC EXHIBITION HALL
Creativity exhibition “Mindsurfer, vol.“ and performance “Return of the Yellow Wolfman” of Andrus Joonas (Estonia) shall be presented on the 9th September, Friday, on 6 p.m. at KKKC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens str. 2, Klaipėda).
A thought of writer and Buddhism meditation teacher Sogyal Rinpoche about the meaning of modern art “Perhaps modern art is largely limited as people do not think about invisible holy origin and purpose of art: to render vision for people of their true nature and their place in the world, so that they shall realise the life value and its endless possibilities again and again” became a creative imperative of interdisciplinary artist Andrus Joonas. According to the creator, it is possible to scrabble around on the internet or in endless mind; human development is not a luxury, it is an inseparable part of each of us. An exhibition is a personal space of artist – both mentally and physically, where he/she can honestly communicate with spectator and be personally responsible for his/her creation.
He followed this principle when concluding exposition of his exhibition. Works that were created during 1995-2016 were presented here. These works introduce various stages of his creation, form installative and notional totality as well as represent his way of creation. The main field of creator’s activity is art of performances, as well as painting, installations and photography related to performances. New paintings and performances of latter years are presented in exhibition.
“You can never know what will happen during performance. You must be ready to react within nanoseconds. It shall take five years for the performance to be smooth. If it happens, then, speaking in terms of surfers, you catch a perfect wave”, A. Joonas revealed nuances of creativity.
The artist dedicates its exhibition to his ancestry, who arrived to tsarist Russiain the 19th century looking for the Promised Land, and to the White ship that brought them there. Some of them reachedSiberia, the others – coasts of theBlack sea. Nature of diligent Estonians, constancy of will and desire to learn and to know more soon let them make good economically. Then times changed and they lost everything what could be lost: some of them lost wealth, some of them – lives. Younger and braver generation returned toEstonia after World War II. “I guess that I inherited the spirit of hunter from these my ancestry”, said artist.
About the author
Andrus Joonas (born in 1970) started his career as a painter in 1995–2006 with powerful roadside exhibition of 8 km length, displaying gigantic monumental paintings on the Pärnu-Tõstamaa highway.
A. Joonas named his concept of creativity as Aledoia. Aledoia is a word from the artist’s own mythology that initially stood for a series of flower paintings, but later extended to the whole body of art. A. Joonas is definitely one of the Estonian artists who most powerfully cultivate the mystical and romantic myth of an artist. His life includes epiphanous moments of inspiration, tumultuous decisions, works burned in fits of depression, and pictures painted from visions. His tender and obscene performances have brought forth both great admiration as well as scandals that ended in court cases. The short summary of his creative process is: break the illusionary reality and follow your inspiration, it is the only chance to find ourselves inside this illusion; losing one’s way from time to time is an inevitable part of the journey.
A. Joonas’s artistic language is difficult to place in formal canons and frames.
His creative travels can be described as contemporary mysticism – especially in the light of developments in recent years – where the synthesis of irony and different types of art and cultures provides a strong energetic boost; where the extremely expressive, often excessive diversity is glued together by the artist who does not need mediators between himself and cosmos.
Andrus Joonas has performed in many European countries, the USA and Russia. Works by Joonas in collections:Tartu, Pernu (Estonia) Art Museums and in many private collections in Estonia and Europe.