Group exhibition "Phantom of the Paradise"

On Thursday, 4th of June at 6 pm a group exhibition “Phantom of the Paradise”, will open at Vaal Gallery. The exhibition will remain open until 4th of July, Tue–Fri 12–6 pm and Sat 12–4 pm.

The exhibition “Phantom of the Paradise” examines the contemporary condition in which the human beings increasingly experience themselves as a project that must be constantly developed, improved, and reshaped. Philosopher Byung-Chul Han has described the modern individual as a self-exploiting being whose imagined freedom manifests through self-management, control and endless optimization. Ambivalence, loss, mourning, confusion, or stillness are treated as problems that must be solved, corrected, or overcome.

The works by Ingmar Järve, Anna Mari Liivrand, Martin Luts, Angela Maasalu, Ivor Mikker, Liisa Nurklik, and Johanna Ulfsak approach this phenomenon by addressing the relationship between self-improvement, manosphere, body, desire, fantasy, and systemic control.

The title and themes of the exhibition are taken along from an essay by Franco "Bifo" Berardi, in which, among other things, he also recalls the film "The Phantom of Paradise" by Brian de Palma, and deals with the imaginations of a better, healthier and more holistic life that always remains inaccessible to a person living under the neoliberal order. The Phantom of Paradise points to how self-development, self-discipline, body and social habits relate to morality, productivity and hidden forms of subjugation.

The curator of the group exhibition is Lilian Hiob-Küttis.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, and Põhjala Brewery.