Kristina Õllek
Kristina Õllek (b. 1989) is a visual artist based in Tallinn, Estonia. She's working with photography, moving image, installation, as well as microbial and chemical processes, with a focus on investigating aquatic ecosystems, geological matter, and the human-altered environments. In her practice she uses a scientific and research-based approach, but within she also incorporate my own fictional and speculative perspectives. In particular, she's focused on the marine habitat and the notion of new technologies, including the geopolitical and ecological conditions associated with them. Within the past nine years, her work has engaged with the fragile ecosystem of the deep sea, been floating on the coasts of the North Sea, sunken into the hypoxic zones of the Baltic Sea; and thinking with the aquatic organisms, such as cyanobacteria, as well as the filter feeders, the living archives of our aquatic environment.
With her work, she raises questions around the relationship between natural and synthetic, and understandings of materiality by obtaining a new and reconsidered meaning. She is interested in stretching out the boundaries of what we can see and use as an image and space, especially in the age of rapidly developing and highly manipulative technology. Kristina Õllek's practice is often site-sensitive and analyses the location and the format of exhibition-making, questioning the display and the politics of installation in a perspective of a historical museum to an online space and future archeology.
Kristina Õllek graduated from the Estonian Academy of Arts (BA degree in 2013, MA degree in 2016; in the Photography Department, Fine Arts). She has complemented her studies in Berlin at Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee (2012) and in Rotterdam at Piet Zwart Institute (2016). Õllek has been awarded twice the Estonian Academy of Arts Young Artist Prize, in 2013 (BA) and 2016 (MA). Between 2013-2018 she was the co-founder and member of artist-run space Rundum. In 2023 she received the 3-year artist grant by Estonian Artist’s Union & Estonian Ministry of Culture.
Her works have been shown in various international group and solo exhibitions including at Kai Art Center (Tallinn), KUMU Art Museum (Tallinn), Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (Tallinn), Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (Oslo), La Traverse (Marseille), L'Atlas gallery (Paris), A Tale of A Tub (Rotterdam), Zeppelin Museum (Friedrichshafen), Le Lieu Unique (Nantes), Screen City Biennial (Stavanger), Fotomuseum Winterthur, Titanik gallery (Turku), Tallinn Art Hall, Draakoni & Hobusepea gallery (Tallinn), ISSP gallery (Riga), Riga Photography Biennial (Riga), Benaki Museum (Athens), Snehta Residency (Athens), Coherent (Brussels). Her works belong to several collections (e.g Estonian Art Museum, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland; European Central Bank Art collection and private).
Kristina Õllek is represented by Kogo Gallery.
Education
- –
Photography, Fine Arts MA, Estonian Academy of Arts
Fine Arts MA, Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam (Exchange Studies)
- –
Photography BA, Estonian Academy of Arts
Visual communication BA, Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee (Exchange Studies)
- –
Foundation course in Photography, Estonian Academy of Arts
Residency
Baltic Art Center, Gotland, Sweden
Guarding the Baltic Sea, Vartiosaari, Helsinki, Finland
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England
La Traverse, Marseille, France
Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Snehta Residency, Athens, Greece
Solo Exhibitions
Upcoming
Drifting Through Waters, duo show with Anne-Laure Wuillai, curated by Merilin Talumaa and Kati Kull, 47 rue Chapon, Paris, France
Title TBC, duo show with Tuomas A. Laitinen, curated by Anna Mustonen, Seinäjoki Kunsthalle, Finland
Past
Konrad Mägi, duo show with Konrad Mägi, curated by Kathleen Soriano, Dulwich Picture Gallery (in collaboration with KUMU), London, England
Waters of Hypoxic and Once Tropic, Do You See?, Kuressaare Raegalerii, Saaremaa, Estonia
As the Earliest Carrier Emerges, with Kert Viiart, Grand Palais, Bern, Switzerland
Cyanoceans, duo show with Tuomas A. Laitinen, curated by Karin Laansoo and Anna Mustonen, Kai Art Center, Tallinn, Estonia
Waters of Hypoxic & Once Tropic at Tütar gallery, Tallinn, Estonia
Waters of Hypoxic Slime & Tropic Lime at Kogo gallery, Tartu, Estonia
Filtering With Cyanobacteria, Double Binds & Other Blooms, ISSP gallery, Riga, Latvia
Trade Winds in the Age of Underwater Currents, A Tale of A Tub, curated by Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Filter feeders, double binds and other silicones, Draakoni gallery, Tallinn, Estonia
You Know You've Become Part of the View, together with Kert Viiart, Hobusepea gallery, Tallinn
EXHIBIT_ONSCROLL with Kert Viiart, @exhibit_onscroll
WHEN YOU HAVE THE OBJECT ITSELF IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES /konstanet.com. Konstanet, www.konstanet.com
WHEN YOU HAVE THE OBJECT ITSELF IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES / Piet Zwart Institute, One-night show at Piet Zwart Institute project space, Rotterdam
Rundum showcase: Manifesta, Kristina Õllek, part of parallel programme of Manifesta 10, Rundum artist-run space at Taiga, Moshkov pereulok 2, St.Petersburg
Micro, co-exhibited with Mari-Leen Kiipli, Kulla Laas, Aap Tepper, Mari Volens, Draakoni gallery, Tallinn
I have put the picture on the wall so as to forget there was a wall, but forgetting the wall I forget the picture, too. EKA G, Tallinn
Group Exhibitions
Upcoming
Alchimies Photographiques, curated by Matthieu Lelièvre, MAC Lyon, France
Paris Photo, with Kogo gallery, Grand Palais Paris, France
Past
Foto Tallinn, with Kogo gallery, Kai Art Center, Tallinn
METABOLISING TIME, curated by Angelique Spannings, Marijn Bril, Alexander Burenkov and Rawad Baaklini, MU Hybrid Art House, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
From Restorer to Conservator, curated by Kaisa-Piia Pedajas, Niguliste Museum, Tallinn
Zoom in: Ecology, Riga Photography Biennial, curated by Inga Brūvere and Marie Sj.vold, Riga Art Space, Riga, Latvia
Esther III, contemporary art fair, with Kogo gallery, New York, US
Ghosts of Impossible Present 2, curated by Solvita Krese, Paul Stradins Museum of the History of Medicine, Riga, Latvia
Suur-Vanalinn, curator Villem Tomiste, Estonian Museum of Architecture
For All At Last Return, curated by Emma Dean, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England
Deep Down. Living Seas. Living Bodies, curated by Joseph Constable, State Art Gallery, Sopot, Poland
just juuri nüüd nyt, curated by Hertta Kiiski, FOKU gallery, Tallinn
Minor Attractions, in collaboration with Kogo gallery, London, England
Reimagining our future with the Baltic Sea, curated by Taru Elfving, Venturo Studio, Helsinki
16th Small Sculpture Triennial 2025, curated by Ina Neddermeyer and Claudia Emmert, Fellbach, Germany
From Amber to Stars, curated by Kathleen Soriano and Vaiva Laukaitienė, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Arts, Kaunas, Lithuania
Form Follows Function, curated by Paulius Petraitis, Prospekto gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
Missing, curated by Sara Bédard-Goulet and Marie-Laure Delaporte, Tartu Art House, Estonia
Dryads of Cosquer, curated by Merilin Talumaa and Justė Kostikovaitė, La Traverse gallery, Marseille, France
Ghosts of Impossible Present, curated by Solvita Krese. State of Concept, Athens, Greece
Breathing Through the Eyes, curated by Merilin Talumaa, L’Atlas gallery, Paris, France
The Art of Adopting, curated by Triin Metsla and Madli Ehasalu, Kadrioru Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia
Emotional Landscapes, curated by Šelda Pukite, Arka gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
Into the Deep. Mines of the Future. Curated by Ina Neddermeyer, Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen, Germany
New Visions – The Henie Onstad Triennial for Photography and New Media, curated by Susanne Østby Sæther, Inga Lāce and Reem Shadid, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo, Norway
Growing Out? Growing Up? Contemporary Art Collecting in the Baltics, curated by Olga Temnikova, Zuzeum, Riga, Latvia
Art-o-rama, represented by Foku, Marseille, France
My Bitter Sweet Frankenstein Body, curated by Šelda Pukite at Titanik gallery, Turku, Finland
Visage(s) d'Europe, curated by Collectif Fetart, Paris
Foto Tallinn 2021, contemporary art fair, Kai Art Center, Tallinn
Biotoopia, curated by Peeter Laurits, Viinistu Art Museum, Estonia
Our Seas Are What We Make of Them, curated by Angeliki Tzortzakaki, Laurel Project Space, Amsterdam
Ouroboros, online screening program, curated by Vanina Saracino, Finnish Institute in Estonia
Tiger in Space, curated by Vanina Saracino, Lea Vene & Marten Esko, EKKM, Tallinn, Estonia
Screen Age II: Landscape, curated by Inga Bruvere in collaboration with Marie Sjøvold & Aiga Dzalbe, Riga Photography Biennial, Riga Art Space, Latvia
Vello Vinn. Interreflections, curated by Elnara Taidre, KUMU, Tallinn
Screen City Biennial, Ecologies – Lost, found and continued, curated by Vanina Saracino & Daniela Arriado, Stavanger, Norway
Foto Tallinn, contemporary art fair, Kai Art Center, Tallinn
The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel. Screening curated by Vanina Saracino, organised by Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art, Artis, Tallinn
25 YEARS! SHARED HISTORIES, SHARED STORIES, Fotomuseum, Winterthur, Switzerland
Ascending from the Liquid Horizon, curated by Kati Ilves, Le Lieu Unique, Nantes
[障子] SHŌJI Artists' Moving Image screening, selected by Duncan Herd, ArtnShelter, Tokyo
Athens Photo Festival, Benaki Museum, Athens
Contemporary Art from Estonia, curated by Britta von Campenhausen, European Central Bank, Frankfurt
A Brief Introduction to Physiological Anthropology, curated by Maxime Souvent, Coherent, Brussels
Screen Age I : Self-Portrait, curated by Inga Brūvere in cooperation with Marie Sjøvold and Aiga Dzalbe, Riga Photography Biennial, Riga
Fold by Fold the Widowed Stone Unrobes Itself, curated by Stefanie Hessler, EKKM, Tallinn
IMAGE DRAIN, curated by Anthea Buys, Tallinn Art Hall
For General Background See Section “What to See and Do”, p. 24, curated by Danai Giannoglou, Snehta residency, Athens
POPPOSITIONS, When you have the object itself in front of your eyes / Poppositions, represented by Rundum, curated by Niekolaas Johannes Lekkerkerk, ING ART Center, Brussels
TASE'16, Estonian Academy of Arts MA Grad Show, SUVA Sukavabrik, Tallinn
Place Oddity, curated by Francisco Martínez and Lilli-Krõõt Repnau, EKA gallery
Prosu(u)mer, (with Rundum) curated by David Raymond Conroy, EKKM, Tallinn
Youth as Lifestyle, curated by Marika Agu, Nele Ambos, Hanna-Liis Kont, Julia Polujanenkova. Tartu Art Museum
Las ma räägin sulle iseendast, curated by Siim Preiman, Nooruse galerii, Tartu Monumentaalgalerii, Tartu
ava(tud) piirid, curated by Tiiu Parbus, Merilin Talumaa & Eda Tuulberg, EKA G, Tallinn
Näitus Kopli tüdrukutele, curated by Liina Pääsuke, Nancy Nakamura Ideaself, Tallinn
Books!, curated by Marko Mäetamm, Hobusepea gallery, Tallinn
Side-effects II, curated by Laura Kuusk and Pascale Riou, Grenoble old museum-library, Grenoble, France
Man can turn in a circle and in doing so turn towards any point at will, Raja gallery, Tallinn
Lost in space, curated by Gregor Taul, Konstfack, Stockholm
Rundum starting, Rundum Artist-Run Space, Tallinn
Approaches, curated Anu Vahtra and Reimo Võsa-Tangsoo, Hobusepea gallery, Tallinn
.GIF IT SPACE, supervised by Camille Laurelli, Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn
From the window all that could be seen was a receding grey, curated by Laura Toots, Katarsis project space, Tallinn
Image and sound, space and sound, Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee, Berlin
Ladyfest: Tartu eri, curated by Kaisa Eiche, Y-gallery, Tartu, Estonia
Tallinn-Turku. Turku Arts Academy gallery, Finland
WHAT A FOTO?! Estonian Academy of Arts
Awards / Scholarships
Eerik Haamer Art Award
C/O Berlin Young Talent award nominee
The Louis Roederer Photography Prize for Sustainability nominee
3–year artist grant (2023–2025), Estonian Artist’s Union & Estonian Ministry of Culture
Futures Photography nominee
ArtProof production grant
Artist grant, Cultural Endowment of Estonia
WHEN YOU HAVE THE OBJECT ITSELF IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES / Poppositions was selected at Estonian Photographic Art Fair by the international jury in collaboration with Outset Estonia for acquisition to public collection.
Young Artist's Prize of Faculty of Fine Arts of Estonian Academy of Arts (MA)
Culture Scholarship, Estonian Ministry of Culture
Culture Scholarship, Estonian Ministry of Culture
Young Artist's Prize of Faculty of Fine Arts of Estonian Academy of Arts (BA)
DAAD Scholarship for Summer School
Artist Books / Publications
Filter Feeders, Double Binds and Other Silicones, published by Lugemik. Graphic design by Kert Viiart. Texts by Angeliki Tzortzakaki, Jeff Diamanti
WHAT TO DO TOGETHER? , edited by Rundum artist-run space, Graphic design by Kert Viiart.
WHEN YOU HAVE THE OBJECT ITSELF IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES / Poppositions. Graphic design by Kert Viiart.
WHEN YOU HAVE THE OBJECT ITSELF IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES / on paper. Graphic design by Kert Viiart.
Almost a Centimeter, Make Your Own Press.
Works in Collection
Kumu, Art Museum of Estonia, Estonia
Winterthur Fotomuseum, Switzerland
European Central Bank Collection, Frankfurt, Germany
Kunststiftung DZ Bank, Frankfurt, Germany
New York Public Library, New York, US
Private collections
Memberships
Estonian Union of Photography Artists, since 2017
Estonian Artists' Association, since 2014
Co-founder and member of artist-run space RUNDUM, since 2013