Tütar gallery is excited to welcome painter August Sai to the list of represented artists. His solo exhibition “In the Skin of Paint” is on view at the gallery until 1 November.
In his painting series, August Sai (1983) combines images from art history, film stills and staged photographs, choosing his subjects primarily for their formal qualities. He contrasts the illusion of a meticulously painted image with the materiality of the painted surface, exploring how cultural knowledge and personal experience shape what the viewer sees.
The exhibition “In the Skin of Paint” presents paintings made in a technique of the artist’s own, combining motifs from Old Master paintings with a sculptor’s approach to material. Sai peels the skin of oil paint from the canvas and shapes it by hand, turning the original image into something spatial and sculptural.
August Sai graduated with a BA in Painting from the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2010 and took part in the FLACC Workplace for Visual Artists residency programme in Belgium. Alongside his current exhibition at Tütar gallery, his solo exhibitions include “The Story of Paint” at Hobusepea Gallery (2020) and “Twenty Cases” at Draakon Gallery (2018).
