Estonian art historian Nina Ziterova, while curating my solo exhibition in Kadriorg Art Museum in 1980, has said: ”The main principle of the works of Aili Vint is the male and female element and the attempt to unite them.”
Aili Vint: My series of colored etchings, „Variety Delights“, is made up of fragments found on a photo of a female nude, with the help of a mirror. The pieces vary in their different forms, sizes and colors - in a natural light shade of human body. The naturally light shade of the human body was chosen for just that effect. In etching technique, the zinc plate reacts with the light zinc printing color and adds a grayish tone to the flesh colour in the more deeply etched places. The result is a two-coloured print made with one colour. As the workload using this technique is big, the process is time consuming and each print is hand made by the artist using different colours, the number of copies remains relatively small. All this increases the value of a single print.
NB! Abreviationt.p.l.a. under works means “printed by the artist”.
why did I start making sensual graphics?
Towards the end of the Soviet era our friends always wanted to get two things from abroad - art books and “Playboy”s The latter were especially forbidden in the USSR. The punishment of having them could get the guilty person kicked out of the USSR Artists’ Union - which meant you would be denied access to buying art supplies that were sold only in a special art store.
So I looked at those “Playboy”s... No! There was nothing about the mystery between a man and a woman, no primeval desire between the partners, no subtle enigma.Estonian actor, screenwriter and director Rain Tolk: “A man should experience the magical attraction of a woman during a longer period. More important is what the woman decides not to share.“
Man and woman are like two miraculous molecules. Once they have both achieved the primeval feeling that touches their senses deeply, they fit together naturally like two particles in a cell of life. Like the Sea and the Wind.
Estonian writer ja gallerist Piia Ausman: “Aili Vint was one of the bravest and most strong-minded women in the 1960s, not afraid to contradict the current political situation. She belonged to the group ANK´64 together with many famous authors of today. She was an active and innovative participant who always kept her identity. Today we know Aili Vint as a marine painter with an exceptional sense of colour and light, but the beginning of her creative career was luminous in many ways, carrying the hippie spirit of that day. The touch of eroticism in Aili’s is hidden into the images, but still obvious, flickering through her graphic pieces and gouaches quite casually and conspicuously, sometimes in feminine spite, dwelling rather convincingly in her art space. Even in the seascapes.
Aili Vint:It was the year 1974, when my sensual graphic pieces were first chosen and approved to a public art exhibition. This was a real challenge to the Soviet taboos in art.
here is a funny story, told by our respected art historian and professor Boris Bernshtein himself.
„After the opening of the Tallinn Spring Exhibtion, I got a call from Ilmar Torn, the chairman of Estonian Artists’ Union. The chairman or the USSR Artists’ Union with his wife was coming from Moscow to see our exhibition! Ilmar Torn asked me to bring my wife as well. We plotted that they would stand in front of Aili’s pictures together with our wives and block the view, while I would talk about something in such an enchanting way that the whole company would just move on. And just like that, dodging the bullets, we saved the reputation of the Soviet Estonian art. -You might have been kicked out of the Artists’ Union.“
MEELELINE GRAAFIKA
variatsioonid graafilistest lehtedest
VAHELDUS PAKUB LÕBU
Meie kunstiteadlane Nina Ziterova,kes kureeris mu isiknäitust Kadrioru Kunstimuuseumis 1980.aastal, ütles:.”Aili Vindi tööde aluseks on mees- ja naiselement ning püüdlus neid ühendada.”
Aili Vint: Minu värvilistest söövitustest graafikaseeriad.”Vaheldus pakub lõbu” on tehtud peegli abil fragmentidest, mis on leitud aktifotodelt. Tegemist on seeriaprintsiibil loodud kompositsioonidega, mille motiivid varieeruvad erinevates vormides, suuruses ja värvinüanssides. Valitud lihtsale vormile vastab inimkeha loomulik toon, mille heledus on haruldane julgus graafikas, eriti veel sügavtrüki tehnikas, kus tsinkplaat hakkab heleda trükivärviga reageerima ja annab plaadil, sügavamalt söövitatud kohtades, peenelt valitud ihuvärvile lisaks halli värvitooni! Tulemuseks on kahevärviline tõmmis, kuigi plaati sai töödeldud ühe värviga.
Kuna töömaht, mida tehnika nõuab, on taas küllalt suur, protsess aeganõudev ning iga tõmmis kunstniku enda käega tehtud ja eri värvi, jäävad graafikatiraažid reeglina väga väikesteks. See kõik tõstab aga üksiklehe väärtust.
NB! t.p.l.a. See tähtedemärk tõmmise all on rahvusvaheline kokkulepe, mis tähendab seda, et selle tõmmise on teinud otsast lõpuni autor ise.
miks hakkasin tegema meelelist graafikat
Vene aja lõpupoole, kes aga välismaale pääses, mangusid sõbrad, et toogu kunstiraamatuid ja Playboy’sid. Viimaseid üle piiri tuua oli eriti rangelt keelatud. Ähvarduseks NSVL Kunstnike Liidust väljaheitmine, mis tähendas, et jäid ilma kunstitarvete ostmise õigusest.
Vaatasin Playboysid… Ei! Seal pole tuhkagi mehe- ja naisevahelisest müstikast, pole ürgset tõmmet mõlema partneri vahel. Puudub hoomamatu salapära.Eesti näitleja, stsenarist ja režissöör Rain Tolk: “Mees peaks tunda saama naise maagilist külgetõmbe mõjujõudu pikema aja vältel. Olulisem on just see, mille naine hoopis avamata jätab.“
Mees ja naine on kui kaks maagilist molekuli. Kui mõlemad on tunda saanud enneolematut külgetõmmet, mis liigutab sügavalt nende meeli, sobivad nad omavahel loomulikult nagu kaks molekuli ühes elurakus.
Eesti kirjanik ja galerist Piia Ausman: “Aili Vint oli 1960ndate aastate üks julgemaid ja isepäisemaid naisi, kes ei kartnud minna vastuollu tollase üldise konjuktuuriga. Rühmituses ANK´64 , kuhu kuulisid Aili kõrval mitmed tänaseks nimekad autorid, oli ta aktiivne ja uuenduslik kaasakõneleja, jäädes alati omanäoliseks. Kui täna teame Aili Vinti eelkõige erakordse värvi- ja valgusetajuga meremaalide loojana, siis tema loomingu algus oli mitmemõtteliselt kirgas ja tollaseid hipivaimsusi kandev. Erootika puudutus Aili kunstis oli küll kujunditesse peidetud ent ilmne, see väreles nii tema graafikas kui guaššides justkui möödaminnes ja iseenesestmõistetavalt, kohati naiselikult kiuslikultki, olles täiesti kõigutamatult ja veenvalt autori loominguruumides olemas. Isegi meredes.
Aili Vint:Oli aasta 1974, kui minu meeleline graafika esimest korda zhürii poolt näitusele välja valiti. Tegemist oli tõelise väljakutsega nõukogulikele kaljukindlatele tabudele kunstis.
üks naljakas lugu, mille rääkis mulle kunstiteadlane ise, meie kõikide poolt väga lugupeetud õppejõud Boris Bernshtein
„Pärast Tallinna kevadnäituse avamist, esimesel öötunnil, helistas mulle meie Kunstnike Liidu esimees Ilmar Torn. Nõukogude Liidu Kunstnike Liidu esimees Moskvast oli teatanud, et homme sõidab ta koos oma abikaasaga Eesti kevadnäitust vaatama. IlmarTorn palus, et võtaksin kaasa ka oma abikaasa. Plaan oli selline, et kui me jõuame Aili piltideni, seisame koos abikaasadega piltide ette seljaga ja mina hakkan rääkima nii lummavalt, kui oskan, et kõik ainult mind vaatama jäävadki. Ja seejärel, jutuhoos, hakkame kogu seltskonnaga märkamatult edasi jalutama. Nii, seekord, karidest mööda, päästsime nõukaaegse Eesti kunsti maine. Sind oleks, halval juhul, ähvardanud NSVL Kunstnike Liidust väljaheitmine.“
This big digicollage combined from Aili Vint’s original tiny etchings and seascapes (1962–2018) and could be designed as large as the exhibition space allows, even on the ceiling and the floor..
Open Collections. The Artist Takes the Floor 2019, Kumu Art Museum
Estonian Art Museum invites visitors to walk through a forest of art history and sees to it that the walk is a meandering journey, taking museum-goers from main paths to enjoyable side trails which have not yet been fully assessed and categorised in art history. In inviting the artists, the curator considered their creative profiles with the aim of involving different media.
Several invited artists made the initial choice of pieces of interest based on the electronic museum database MuIS and the digital collection of the Art Museum of Estonia, which was followed by actual work with the collection. The works of art on exhibit cover the period from the 17th to the 21st centuries.
Open Collections. The Artist Takes the Floor 2019, Kumu Art Museum
