The Arrival of the Artist Raul Rajangu and His Assistants in Viljandi by Raul Rajangu
Born in the small town of Viljandi, Raul Rajangu became the wunderkind of Estonian art in the 1980s. He was self-educated as an artist, and his debut in 1984 stunned the art audiences of Estonia due to his peripheral energy. Rajangu boldly attached symbols from Soviet mass culture to his paintings. Current work is a quotation of the painting “Bogatyrs” by the Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov. Rajangu used a tasselled tapestry modelled after “Bogatyrs” as the centrepiece of his own narrative painting. The depiction of the artist as a Russian knight-errant with his squires arriving in Viljandi mocks great narratives in a post-modernist manner, but also hints playfully at the main texts of the great neighbouring culture, and contains a substantial amount of self-irony.
Kumu Art Museum, Estonia
The Arrival of the Artist Raul Rajangu and His Assistants in Viljandi by Raul Rajangu
Born in the small town of Viljandi, Raul Rajangu became the wunderkind of Estonian art in the 1980s. He was self-educated as an artist, and his debut in 1984 stunned the art audiences of Estonia due to his peripheral energy. Rajangu boldly attached symbols from Soviet mass culture to his paintings. Current work is a quotation of the painting “Bogatyrs” by the Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov. Rajangu used a tasselled tapestry modelled after “Bogatyrs” as the centrepiece of his own narrative painting. The depiction of the artist as a Russian knight-errant with his squires arriving in Viljandi mocks great narratives in a post-modernist manner, but also hints playfully at the main texts of the great neighbouring culture, and contains a substantial amount of self-irony.
Kumu Art Museum, Estonia