“Surrounded” Kadri Toomi & Helle Vahersalu

On Friday, June 27 at 17.00, the joint exhibition Surrounded by graphic artist Kadri Toom and painter Helle Vahersalu will open at Vabaduse Gallery.

The exhibition “Surrounded” is a visual dialogue between two generations, a conversation between a teacher and a student. For Kadri Toom, it was her painting studies at the Tartu Art College under Helle Vahersalu that deeply influenced her later colour-centric printmaking. This time, however, Toom has approached the part of her teacher’s oeuvre that has previously remained hidden from the wider audience: colourful sketches and abstract compositions painted on cardboard. In this way, two different, yet delightfully complementary perceptions of landscape come together.

– Peeter Talvistu in the text accompanying the exhibition.

Kadri Toom (b. 1984) has graduated from the Tartu Higher Art School, specializing in painting (BA, 2006) and the Estonian Academy of Arts, Department of Graphic Art (MA, 2009).
In her work, Toom focuses on combining different printmaking techniques and experimenting with layers of colour, which is characterised by an attempt to break out of the traditional form in printmaking. Her themes of interest often relate to the experience of the living environment, space and landscapes.
Toom's work is held in the collections of the Tartu Art Museum and the Rothko Museum, as well as in many private collections. She has been awarded the Estonian Cultural Endowment's Annual Prize in 2022, as well as the Association of Estonian Printmakers' title "Graphic Artist of the Year 2021" and the "Wiiralt Prize 2022".
Kadri Toom is a member of the Estonian Artists' Association and the Association of Estonian Printmakers. She teaches and mentors graphic art students at the Estonian Academy of Arts and the Pallas University of Applied Sciences.

Helle Vahersalu (b. 1939) studied at the Tartu Art School from 1958–1961 and then at the Estonian State Art Institute, graduating in 1967. From 1961 to 1967 she worked as a teacher of drawing and painting at the Tartu Art School, and from 1991 to 1993 she was a lecturer at the Painting Department of the University of Tartu. Among Vahersalu's students are several currently active and renowned Estonian artists.  
Vahersalu started as an active artist in the early 1970s with abstract paintings inspired by nature and infused with the energy of vigorous brushstrokes. She has also been creating watercolour, portraiture and still life paintings. In the 1970s and 1980s, Vahersalu was known as a portraitist and captured many of the cultural figures of the time.
Helle Vahersalu has been a member of the Estonian Artists' Association since 1976.
In 2015, she was awarded the Ado Vabbe Art Prize and in 1999 the Order of the White Star, V Class.

The exhibition is part of the satellite programme of the 19th Tallinn Print Triennial and will remain open until 23 July 2025.

Exhibition text: Peeter Talvistu
Exhibition design: Madis Liplap
Consultant: Tuuli Puhvel
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

The gallery is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, and Liviko Ltd.
Vabaduse Gallery is managed by the Estonian Artists’ Association.

Additional information:
Vabaduse Gallery
Tel: +372 5805 0009
E-post: vabaduse@eaa.ee
Vabaduse väljak 6
10146 Tallinn
Mon–Fri 11.00–18.00
Sat  11.00–17.00