From November 6–9, Tütar gallery will take part in Art Cologne, presenting new, previously unseen works by Tõnis Saadoja from his painting series “The Model of Recollecting” and “Height Above Sea Level.”
The presentation develops on Saadoja’s 2024 solo exhibition “Then” at Tütar gallery, which also featured works from the same two series.
According to writer Aare Pilv, who authored the accompanying text for the exhibition, the paintings in “The Model of Recollecting” depict “urban views caught in a box.” Some of these views no longer exist in reality – they are images from the past, or more precisely, from the memory of the eye, where the essential element is soft, bright summer afternoon or evening light. This light, originating from memory, has been shown again on analogue film, where light – unlike in digital photography – does not result from computation, but directly touches the sensitive and perceptive surface. From this analogue image, the light has once again been projected through and onto a cardboard box set on a dark mirror surface, creating a contrast between the metaphysical and the mundane. The image is then painted once more on canvas through the artist’s eyes. It forms an “archive of moments of light” that casts its glow into darkness – an attempt to prove the imperishability of light memory amid fleeting light.
The series “Height Above Sea Level” consists of painterly experiments that employ historical painting and canvas treatment techniques in the depiction of skies and clouds, thus constituting another kind of project of remembering and recalling – this time more directly in dialogue with the history of painting.
Tõnis Saadoja (1980) is an Estonian painter whose conceptually structured, series-based works explore how photography and memory shape everyday perception. Through figurative analysis and attention to small histories, Saadoja seeks a technically distinctive form for ordinary motifs. His practice often begins with photographic observation, examining both the modest appearance and transformative power of the photographic image.
Saadoja’s synthesis of conceptual precision and technical control has been recognized with numerous distinctions, including Konrad Mägi Award (2015), Kristjan Raud Award (2013), and three Annual Awards of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (2012, 2008, 2006). Earlier honors include Vaal Gallery Young Artist Prize (2004) and Köler Prize People’s Choice Award (2011). In 2025, Tõnis Saadoja was awarded the Order of Merit of the White Star, Fifth Class, one of Estonia’s highest honors for cultural contribution.
Art Cologne will take place from November 6–9, 2025, in Cologne, Germany.
Tütar gallery’s presentation will be located in Koelnmesse Hall 11.2, booth N015.
Tütar gallery’s participation is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Estonia and the Estonian Contemporary Art Development Center.
