PRESS RELEASE

MIHKEL KLEIS's (1977) personal exhibition Guts'n'Roses will be opened in Hobusepea gallery at 5pm on January 5, 2011. The opening also serves as the launching for the two new albums Night at the Museum and White Tie Black Noise by EDASI.

As an artist, musician, composer and radio DJ, Mihkel Kleis is presenting here his newest paintings together with his newest albums. Although some of the works have already been exhibited (at the general exhibition Changing Art of Painting at KUMU Art Museum and during the Eklektika Festival in Tartu), most of the works are being shown for the first time. Similarly to his earlier work, Kleis has been inspired by horror films, otherwordliness, pop culture, posters and other things.

In order to explain the background of his works both to the viewers and to himself, Kleis describes the story of one of his paintings, the diptych Pigeon Parade Massacre:
„One night while waiting for the trolleybus I saw three or four pigeons, crushed and dead, in a row beside the sidewalk. It looked as if the trolleybus had run over them all at the same time. The sight was inspiring - creating all kinds of absurd associations so that I had to reflect it in some or other way in my artwork. Finally I decided that the idea would be conveyed the best when the pigeons are depicted in profile, viewed from their own perspective. So the painting aqcuired narrow format. Pigeons are clumsy and slow birds. Trolleybuses are clumsy and slow vehicles. The meeting of those two was certainly a rare accident, and it is human to search for possible meanings and to draw parallels between the accident and something familiar. I envisioned a military parade where a tank had accidentally run over a row of marching soldiers. Because of this association I have clothed the pigeons in military outfit in my mind. Unexpectedly, the narrow format and the military beings directed my ideas to the Bayeux Tapestry that I remembered from my studies in the field of textile. In some way those anonymous warriors looking alike in bright armors and helmets with the beak-like nose guards remind me of pigeons. That is the reason why I decided to imitate Bayeux's style also in my painting. Hopefully, the painting has its own meaning, even if I don't know what it could be. Let's leave this to the viewers.“

Exhibition will be open until January 17, 2011.

Supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

Mihkel Kleis
02.09.1977, Tallinn

Haridus:
1988-1992 Tallinna Laste Kunstikool
1992-1995 Tallinna Pelgulinna Keskkool
1998-2002 EKA tekstiili osakond
2002-2003 EKA Interdistsiplinaarsete Kunstide magistrantuur

Isikunäitused:
2010 "Blutiger wahnsinn", Tsink Plekk Pang, Tartu
2010 "Disfigured Abolitions", galerii "EAST", Tallinn
2008 "Horror Mirror", Y-galerii, Tartu (koos Margus Tammega)
2007 "Commedia dell'Arte", galerii 008, Tallinn
2004 "Piinakunst", Hobusepea galerii, Tallinn
2004 "Ma olen tsitaat" Y-galerii, Tartu (koos Kiwa ja Andres Lõoga)
2004 "Kui Olaf oli nukk", Interdistsiplinaarne salong, Tartu
2003 "Minu võitlus", EKA galerii, Tallinn
2003 Rakvere Linnagalerii (koos Malle Leisiga)
1999 "Maalid", Kullo galerii, Tallinn
1998 "Muinasjutud", Kullo galerii, Tallinn
1997 Kullo galerii, Tallinn (koos Pärtel Talliga)

Osalemine ühisnäitustel:
2010 "Muutuv maalikunst", KUMU, Tallinn
2008 "Abi kosmosest", Tartu Kultuuritehas
2007 "Individuality 2007", Soosoo galerii, Tallinn
2007 "Pomo sapiens" Vaal galerii, Tallinn
2007 "Uus laine. 21. sajandi Eesti kunst", Tallinna Kunstihoone
2007 "Tekstist masinani" Rael Arteli galerii, Tartu
2007 "Kunstniku lapsepõlv", Kullo galerii, Tallinn
2006 "Sex" Vaal galerii, Tallinn
2006 "Unfurled" Kultuuritehas, Tallinn
2006 "Noor Eesti kunst" Võru Linnagalerii
2005 "Kodu kallis kodu" Rotermanni Soolaladu, Tallinn
2004 "Siin ja praegu" Tartu Kunstnike Maja
2003 "Mohni 2003" Mohni saar ja Viinistu Kunstimuuseum
2003 "Vanemuise kultuuritänav" Tartu Kunstnike Maja
2002 "Tsivilisatsioonide kokkupõrge" Pärnu Kontserdimaja