On Friday, 14 February we opened the first season of FOKU gallery with an exhibition Works On Balance, Fragment, Loneliness by the artists Karel Koplimets, Ruudu Ulas and Tarvo Varres. Thank you to the artists, guests and supporters!
Karel Koplimets, Ruudu Ulas, Tarvo Varres
Works On Balance, Fragment, Loneliness
15.02–12.04.2025
FOKU Gallery
Väike-Karja 10, Tallinn
Thu–Sat 12–18, free entrance
In the exhibition by the three artists, phantom neons meet reflections of the sun, warped scaffoldings with chopped up words, blue skies cast in concrete with car parts dropped on asphalt. The works of Koplimets, Ulas and Varres speak of silence and loneliness, of fragments and functions, of the city and the individual.
Karel Koplimets often works with the themes of urbanity, paranoia, prejudice and criminality. His recent works analyze loneliness and fears associated with it. Ruudu Ulas focuses on the dynamics between individuals and their environment, highlighting the tensions and glitches that emerge at the intersection of public and personal spaces. In recent years, Tarvo Varres has created spatial installations and text based works that revolve around the themes of silences, loss and contemporary taboos, while considering questions of the fragile and the fragmentary.
Karel Koplimets (1986) is an artist based in Tallinn, who works with photography, video and installation. He has an MA degree in Photography (Estonian Academy of Arts, 2013) and has finished a two year postgraduate programme at HISK (Higher Institute for Fine Arts, Belgium, 2021). Koplimets has recently participated in the group exhibition Coup de Ville(Belgium, 2024), the Videobrasil Biennale (Brazil, 2023), the main exhibition of the 7th Tallinn Photomonth Trance at Tallinn Art Hall (2023) and held the solo exhibition One Is the Loneliest Number at (AV17) Gallery (Vilnius, 2022). His works are in the collections of several museums, including Kiasma, Musée de l’Elysée and Kumu Art Museum. Karel Koplimets was one of the recipients of the Ministry of Culture’s artist’s salary for years 2020–2022. In fall 2024 Koplimets worked at the ISCP residency in New York.
Ruudu Ulas (1987) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Berlin. In an attempt to make sense of the everyday world, Ulas’ practice includes photography, object-making, performative actions and text works. Working within the expanded field of photography, Ulas’ investigations often take the shape of large-scale installations encompassing the architecture of entire rooms. Ulas holds a Master’s degree in Photography from the Royal College of Art in London (2021) and has also studied at the Glasgow School of Art and at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB). In 2023, she was selected as one of The Photographer’s Gallery New Talent artists and is a member of FUTURES (2024), an international photography platform promoting emerging artists.
Tarvo Varres (1970) researches the concepts of non-self and nonlinear time in his work. He has created photographic series, videos and installations, also using sound, light and text. As a dedicated reader, he also explores both contemporary and early literature and philosophy, which sometimes become part of his art. Varres began exhibiting in public in 1991 with the group show Guide to Intronomadism at Tallinn Art Hall, and has worked as a visiting lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts and Tartu Art College (1996–2016). He has been awarded the Young Photographer’s Prize of the Estonian Filmmakers’ Union (1992), the Annual Prize for Visual and Applied Arts by the Estonian Cultural Endowment (1996, as a member of Group T), and has been nominated for the Köler Prize 2018. His works are included in the collection of contemporary art in the Art Museum of Estonia.
FOKU Gallery is the showroom and community space of the Estonian Union of Photography Artists in Tallinn Old Town. The aim of the gallery is to bring works of contemporary Estonian photography out of the archives and into new circulations. We also wish to create conditions for the sale of artworks and to highlight the value of photographic art. In addition to the main exhibit, visitors will have the opportunity to explore and purchase artworks and prints by members of the Estonian Union of Photography Artists at various price levels, buy art books, drink good coffee, meet artists and friends.
Estonian Union of Photography Artists (FOKU) is a support platform and representative voice for professional artists working primarily with camera-based art. The aim of FOKU is to introduce and develop contemporary art, to increase interest in visual culture, and to enhance the recognition of Estonian artists both locally and internationally. The most extensive activity of the union is the management of the contemporary art biennial Tallinn Photomonth. In 2010, FOKU also initiated Estonia’s only art fair – the Estonian Photographic Art Fair, which has since evolved into art fair Foto Tallinn, organised in cooperation with the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center (ECADC).
Karel Koplimets, Ruudu Ulas, Tarvo Varres
Works On Balance, Fragment, Loneliness
15.02–12.04.2025
Supporters:
Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Põhjala Brewery
Partners:
Rüki gallery
Thanks to:
Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center (ECADC), International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), Mikk Heinsoo, Kaisa Maasik, Ian-Simon Märjama, Maria-Kristiina Ulas
FOKU Gallery
Väike-Karja 10, Tallinn
Thu–Sat 12–18, free entrance
Additional information:
hedi.jaansoo[at]foku.ee
+37255944447
www.foku.ee
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