Sirje Petersen solo exhibition “Storms and Urges” in the large gallery of the Tartu Art House. 16.05.- 15.06.2025

The exhibition offers insights into the artist’s painting practice from 1983 to the present. Sirje Petersen’s journey of becoming and being an artist began exactly 50 years ago, in 1975, when she enrolled at the Tartu Art School.

The earlier part of the exhibition focuses on the 1980s and 1990s, conceptually divided into two periods: before and after the studio fire in 1992.  After losing everything, she had to start from scratch: this gave rise to the series “The Invention of the Bicycle”, which explores surrealism and conceptualism. It is important to understand that the human being has always been at the heart of Sirje Petersen’s paintings, even when a recognisable human figure is not visible. The second part of the exhibition, covering the years 2002–2025, can be described as reflections of the human soul, with all its tensions, longings and quests.  In addition to earlier works, the exhibition also features Petersen’s most recent paintings, including the large-scale piece “Storms and Urges” (2024/2025, 3 × 12 m).

“As we look at both the earliest and most recent stages of Sirje Petersen’s work, three recurring themes emerge: abstraction and colour as the core essence, a gaze that examines the human essence, and a firm conviction that life without art is impossible,” notes the curator, Kadri Asmer.

Besides the exhibition, a comprehensive publication, Sirje Petersen. “Storms and Urges” will be released. In this volume, experts from various fields interpret creativity and Petersen’s work through their own disciplines, including psychology, nature, music, theatre and art history.

Curator: Kadri Asmer
Graphic design: Maarja Roosi

 

Sirje Petersen Flow of Light
Draakon Gallery July 25, 2022 until August 19, 2022.

Photo reportage from Sirje Petersen’s personal exhibition ‘Flow of Light’ at Draakon gallery

Light shows us colours.
What’s out comes in and what’s in gets out.
Openness and closeness.
Light helps us to see details
and light makes darkness go away.

Everyone has a place and a space in this world,
sometimes it is warm and cosy, sometimes cold and bleak.
Sometimes it is noisy, sometimes it is too silent.
Always changing – in light and in shadow.

No-one can grow in darkness.
It becomes possible in light.
Darkness may seem endless but a ray of light can always lit it up
and make everything alive.

There is no absolute reference system. Everything is relative, even the flow of time.”

Sirje Petersen

Exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Exhibitions in Draakon gallery are supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Estonian Ministry of Culture and Liviko Ltd.

Red Thread. Sirje Petersen
Haus Gallery 12.05.2021

Renowned artist Sirje Petersen primarily deals with human and humanity in her work. We can meet the reflections of a person’s inner world in her paintings, where figure and color play an important role as a means of expression. By purifying the painting of extra details and adding perceptible nuances from personal experience, she achieves a multidimensionality in her work, almost to the extent of abstraction.

This exhibition is presented with the support of:
Estonian National Culture Foundation 
Estonian Cultural Endowment for Fine and Applied Arts
Tartu Cultural Endowment
Pallas University of Applied Sciences