Kai Art Center is proud to present its summer exhibition Love Song Sing Along (Once Again With Feeling!) from the artist duo of Kris Lemsalu Malone & Kyp Malone Lemsalu. Both new and previously unexhibited works will be on view together with a large-scale installation that was exhibited earlier in the year at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. Taking on the roles of archetypal Adam and Eve, the artists tackle the world’s creation myth, giving central roles to characters such as a swan, rabbit, and jaguar. In the artists’ words, “It’s a work that’s taken from the personal in real time then abstracted through myth, some borrowed, some improvised. A cosmogony of our relating to one another.”
The artist couple’s first collaboration took place in 2017 at the Performa biennial in New York. Their joint commission for the Estonian Pavilion titled Going Going created a meditative environment in the historic Harlem church with a slowly moving bed as its centerpiece. Kris’ signature works – surreal and delicate porcelain sculptures – together with Kyp’s sound and video created a new, powerful combination. For the first time since the Performa premiere, Going Going will be on view at Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art in Copenhagen this August. In February, Malone and Lemsalu opened their first institutional show Love Song Sing Along in Germany at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, which was cut short by the pandemic only weeks after opening. As the title suggests, Love Song Sing Along (Once Again With Feeling!) is the second coming of the Berlin show as well as the first post-pandemic exhibition at Kai Art Center.
Kris Lemsalu, who represented Estonia at the Venice biennial in 2019, is one of the most internationally-recognized Estonian artists. Her recent solo exhibitions include projects at Goldsmiths CCA in London (2018) and Secession in Vienna (2018), as well as DRAF Evening of Performances in London (2017). Artist and musician Kyp Malone is best known as the lead singer of Brooklyn-based band TV On The Radio and a key member of Rain Machine and Ice Balloons. Through his music, Kyp has supported many grassroots organizations that sprung in action in the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement and backed New York’s small cultural institutions impacted severely by the pandemic.
The summer show at Kai Art Center is their first joint institutional exhibition in Estonia.
Love Song Sing Along (Once Again With Feeling!) is open from July 18th to September 6th, 2020. The exhibition opening is on July 17th at 7pm.
Exhibition ticket prices are 8€/5€, and on Wednesdays admission is at the discounted price of 5€ for everyone. You can get tickets at Kai Art Center or purchase them in advance.
We also offer guided tours at the exhibition. Please contact us to book a tour.
The exhibition is supported by Tallinn Culture Department.
Special thanks: Kristina Oras, Edith Karlson, Julia Heuer, Kauri Kallas, Ingrid Allik, Andres Allik, Allan Hmelnitski, Tõnu Narro, Sarah Elizabeth Johnston, Tarvo Porroson, Hemmelin Malken, Thomas Brandstätter, Mihkel Lember, Michele Pagel, Temnikova & Kasela Gallery
Exhibition sound: Kyp Malone Lemsalu
Exhibition design: Tõnu Narro
Installation: Tehnical Director (Tõnu Narro, Mihkel Lember)
Exhibition team: Karin Laansoo, Triin Metsla, Kadri Laas, Kadi-Ell Tähiste, Henri Kutsar