Jaanus Samma. Flow of Patterns

Jaanus Samma is known for queering seemingly harmless subject matters on national representation through explorations on sexuality and notions of ‘publicness’ in his work. A re-occurring theme is the concept of folklore as a form of cultural circulation open to queer reinterpretation. By using traditional techniques, the artist navigates through various forms of communication, which at first seem innocent but at close inspection present an array of gay and queer symbolism. Flow of Patterns presents a body of work from the past twenty years – from his graduation work on swimming pools up until his recent exhibition, which scrutinized masculinity as a form of national representation.

Text: Léon Kruijswijk, Jeppe Ugelvig.