Trapped 2017 Press release : BRITTA BENNO’s (1984) personal exhibition Trapped will be opened in Draakon gallery at 5pm on January 9, 2017. The artist describes her new work as follows: „The accords of the rhythms and sounds of the simultaneous presence in a physical body and in virtual space resonate at a dimly lit drawing exhibition. Next to the motionless charcoal drawings and intaglio prints there are animations, everything being accompanied by sound. The line exits the borders of drawings and extends to the wall and the exhibition space. Breathing, mouse clicking, heartbeat, keyboard clicking. One rhythm, one pulse. I am a human being, therefore I breathe. I am a human being – always connected. Breath peacefully in. And out. Don’t hold your breath. Life is as light as a plastic bag.“ Britta Benno is a printmaker and drawing artist living and working in Tallinn. She has obtained MA degree in the department of graphic art, the faculty of fine arts, at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She currently holds courses of printing techniques and drawing as well as works as an art teacher in the Art School of Old Town Educational College, Tallinn. As an artist, Britta Benno presents autobiographical narratives in her personal graphic language while using various techniques – drawing, printmaking, animation and installation. She has participated in several art groups, curated group exhibitions and art events as well as founded printmaking studio Grafodroom. Britta Benno is a member of Estonian Artists’ Association and the Association of Estonian Printmakers. Her latest personal exhibition Multitasking was held in Hobusepea gallery in 2015. Exhibition will be open...
Multitasking 2015 PRESS RELEASE BRITTA BENNO (1984) will open her personal exhibition Multitasking in Hobusepea gallery at 6 pm on December 16, 2015. Britta Benno is one of the most distinguished young Estonian artists who is consistently active in the field of drawing and graphic art. According to the artist, she looks for the possibilities how to make these media „alive“ in the context of contemporary art while combining physical drawing and projected animation in her video installations. At the same time, in her daily artist practice Benno continuously uses traditional printmaking techniques. The main subjects of the current exhibition – family life, being a mother and at the same time an artist – has intrigued Benno for quite some time. The concept of „multitasking“ inspired Benno when she was reading a website for families with children – the Estonian equivalent (quite an ugly phrase „rööprähklemine“) seemed to the artist an accurate word to define her own life. „Besides having a twenty-three roles at home, I also have jobs in the field of art. While combining these two worlds and roles, I play with the symbols of motherhood and housekeeping in the form of art,“ explains Benno. The most substantial part of the exhibition Multitasking is made by etchings and aquatints that are based on staged photographs where the artist has used reproductions depicting Madonna with children by Raphael, Filippo Lippi, Elisabetta Sirani and others. Benno has used herself and her children as models in her natural, messy home environment for her staged photographs that have been taken by her husband. However, the situation around the strong and proud-looking...
Tilting at Windmills 2013 “I fight for the truth and justice in this world of villains. Why oh why there is no one who understands the nobility and chivalry of my intentions! /…/ Yet again and again I just run my head against a wall.” A windmill is a Mighty Enemy. It is the giant and a unreasonable System; it is the object that inner angst and anger is being poured upon; and the self-destructive / launching part inside us – the branch we are sitting on, while sawing it at the same time. The mill wheel rotates rumbling on, the circle is repeated again. A noble-soul artist is addressing personal internal tensions and conflicts in a series of works, recognizing a warrior in herself and in her attitude towards the surrounding. Overwhelmed by great and eternal issues, an a small nut in the Big Engine has been engaged in an unyielding fight to search its place in the Sun. Anger, fatigue, disappointment … in spite of all aspiration and achievements, the windmill will be an ever stronger opponent (incl. concerning artistic expression? relationships? …) – such general human emotions have been refined into schematic drawings (self) of grotesque irony. The drawings are discharged from the wall surface in form of mobile flat animations and sometimes get in touch with a three-dimensional form. The biggest thanks: Ragnar Neljandi (animations), Heigo Eeriksoo (sculpture), Ott Pilipenko (kinetic solution). The exhibition will remain open until 2nd of February, 2013. The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of...
