The walls of Crepp café once again emanate a new breath. Indeed, our good friend Marko Adamson has brought us all a selection of Henno Arrak's works to enjoy. We invite all art enthusiasts to come to Crepp café to view the exhibition, whether accompanied by a hot coffee or a glass of Valpolicella.
The exhibition "Garden Party" highlights the work of Estonian graphic artist Henno Arrak (1930–2017) from the years 1963 to 1988. A small selection nonetheless provides a clear sense of the artist's material range and his technical versatility and high level.
"Garden Party" extends and deepens the concurrent exhibition "Henno Arrak. The Depth of Graphic Art" at the Tartu Kaubamaja 2nd floor gallery, which will remain open until March 1, 2024.
Henno Arrak's work has left a remarkable mark on the Estonian art landscape. He mastered various graphic techniques freely, including both relief and intaglio printing, represented in this exhibition by linocut, soft ground etching, etching, and mezzotint. His repertoire includes depictions of both people and animals, landscapes as well as interiors.
The works exhibited at "Garden Party" provide an overview of the artist's creative changes over time. While in the early 1960s, a more forceful and laconic direction dominated his work, in the 1970s, playful settings and surreal motifs primarily expanded the mainly realistic style.
The exhibition features some of Henno Arrak's most well-known works, including "Morning at the Suburban Diner" (linocut, 1963), "Garden Party" (etching, 1971), and "Autumn Landscape" (soft ground etching, 1980).
HENNO ARRAK
Henno Arrak was born on April 18, 1930, in Tallinn and passed away on February 25, 2017. From 1949 to 1955, he was a political prisoner in Kazakhstan. Arrak was in the same camp as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose major work "The Gulag Archipelago" he later translated.
Thanks to the steadfast support of Günther Reindorff, he was admitted to the Estonian State Art Institute in 1957, where he graduated in 1963 as a book graphic artist. His mentors included Alo Hoidre and Paul Luhtein, and he also studied under Evald Okas.
From 1966, Henno Arrak was a member of the Artists' Union, and since 1958, he participated in exhibitions. He was one of the most prominent graphic artists of 20th-century Estonia, with a diverse and experimental body of work, encompassing various graphic techniques and art forms from free graphics to book illustrations, ex libris, and postage stamps.
Exhibition curator: Marko Adamson Advisor: Enn Lillemets
A more comprehensive overview of Henno Arrak's life and creative legacy is available on the website www.hennoarrak.eu.