Artist talk and tour at Mery Crystal Ra's exhibition “Habemus Papam. Between Two Dawns”

On Saturday, September 13, at 3 p.m., Mery Crystal Ra's artist talk will be held as part of the  exhibition HABEMUS PAPAM. BETWEEN TWO DAWNS at the historic former Pastorate of Kodavere Church Manor. The show runs until September 13. The topic of the artist talk is THE SECRET EYE AND THE SECRET WORLD ON THE BORDER OF LAKE PEIPUS. The artist Mery Crystal Ra and lawyer Maarika Pähklemäe will be in conversation.

The secret eye is a recurring motif in Mery Crystal Ra's work. And now that the artist was invited to hold an exhibition at the former Kodavere rectory, mystical stories began to happen. Having spent the night in the pastorate and waking up around five in the morning, when dawn began to break, the artist saw two dawns and later, while going for a walk, a mysterious glowing green eye in the grass next to the Kodavere church. The artist has used the motif of the eye before, for example in the TV Tower, in her exhibition "Invisible" in the light and glass sculpture "RESIDENCY OF THE CICADAS" and several other times in various works. And now this eye stood in front of her as an embodiment of light.

The artist's talk will discuss the mysticism of the Peipsi region, the artist's creative methodology and creative path, the expectation of the white ship on the shores of Lake Peipsi and how the law relates to all of this, the fear of war and the expectation of peace.

Mery Crystal Ra (Meeli Kõiva) exhibition Habemus Papam. Between Two Dawns” opened in the former Pastorate of Kodavere church manor on August 24. The painting exhibition will run until September 13.

The historic former Pastorate of Kodavere Church Manor building is currently in private hands, but legend has it that when Pope John Paul II visited Estonia in 1993, he stayed overnight in the Kodavere rectory. The title of the exhibition comes from the fact that the exhibition will also feature Mery Crystal Ra’s painting The Bearded Pope for the first time. The painting is inspired by the papal elections this May and the world’s hope that the world can change with the arrival of a new pope. The artist has certainly been influenced by the legend that is told about the former Pastorate of Kodavere 

According to the artist, she will be exhibiting acrylic paintings and watercolors inspired by her dreams at the exhibition, which are about hope, light and ways out. Mery Crystal Ra’s paintings are characterized by an expressive painting style and the artist’s unique handwriting.

Mery Crystal Ra’s rise as a painter began at the top New York gallery ART 54 in Manhattan In 1997, Manhattan Arts magazine art critic Thomas Lawrence said of Mery Crystal Ra's painting style at a top Manhattan gallery exhibition: "Brightness, spontaneity, unexpected changes of direction, staccato expressive brushstrokes, and movement are the qualities that immediately come to mind when looking at Mery Crystal Ra's abstract paintings. Water, shadow, reflections, and light are integral parts of the artist's work. A profound sense of freedom, flexibility, and depth." Top Manhattan gallery Rosamarie Montague has said: "Mery Crystal Ra is one of the artists we exhibited at our Manhattan ART 54 gallery. She is one of the most prominent artists of our time, she is the Tesla of the art world."

Mery Crystal Ra has won numerous international competitions with her experimental, innovative and conceptual works. Her innovative light-glass sculptures were more than 30 years ahead of their time. In 2016, Mery Crystal Ra was selected through a global competition to present her experimental light-glass painting creations at the UNESCO Year of Light closing ceremony in Mexico with an interactive solo exhibition Light for Peace and the Nobel panel at the scientific conference of the same event.

The artist was elected European Ambassador of Light in 2014. She has won the European light competition Light in the City/Northern Light for professional artists three times. The experimental glass-light sculpture "Flying sheets of paper", created for the Finnish glass company Glaston, won the audience award at the global competition of the world's leading public space/architectural art magazine US CODAworx. In the same year, she was selected for the world-famous Sofa Chicago art fair with the same work. Mery Crystal Ra’s exhibition “Parasite Beach” at the Estonian Mining Museum was selected as one of the five Cultural Works of the Year winners in the Estonian Cultural House competition in 2016. The artist has been nominated for the Kristjan Rau Award several times.
Her experimental paintings, glass, video and light works have been selected five times among the world’s top 25 works in the US CODAworx public space art magazine competition.

Mery Crystal Ra’s solo exhibition “INVISIBLE” is currently open at the Tallinn TV Tower, dedicated to the 45th anniversary of the Tallinn TV Tower and Mery Crystal Ra’s jubilee year. The exhibition will remain open until December 31, 2025.

 Links: 
Paintings by Meeli Koiva aka Mery Crystal Ra, Saatchi London
UNESCO  International Year Of Light solo exhibition and Nobel panel LIGHT FOR PEACE FILM link
Awarded PARASITE BEACH FILM Link
Awarded by US CODAworx magazine: Metamorphic, innovative monumental art project mixed paintings/light sculptures /videos: GOLDEN GATE MEETS GOLDEN GATEWAY FILM Link