Hangover

Fotografiska surprises with Estonian photography from the 90s during this summer season. The exhibition "Hangover", open from May 28, is the first comprehensive retrospective of the work by the art group DeStudio. The duo behind it, Herkki-Erich Merila and Peeter Laurits, was in many ways a pioneer in the local photography scene.

"We have thought about this show since the opening of Fotografiska Tallinn – after two years, our plan will finally come to life. Merila and Laurits, who have always done things in their own way, have contributed significantly to the development of local photography. Their work is still relevant today, which we can bring as a parallel to current society," says Maarja Loorents, the Co-founder and Exhibitions Lead of Fotografiska Tallinn. It's the 22nd exhibition in Fotografiska Tallinn's main programme; also, it's the second Estonian exhibition after Anna-Stina Treumund's display.

DeStudio was born in 1992 when two young photographers Merila and Laurits realized that the most important thing is to survive as artists in turbulent conditions. So they became a duo that worked both on art and advertising. Their creation is inextricably linked to the 90s era when everything was changing and relocating, at times funny, brutal and exciting. The curator of the exhibition, Eero Epner, thinks that's why DeStudio liked to experiment with collages, where the whole is dismantled, and individual pieces are put together illogically and surreally. "The execution of the pieces is often robust, with a motif of the human body that's torn apart or erotically pleasing. The arrogant formats and ironic approach were also related to the period when the existing hierarchies fell apart, and new ones had not yet been established," the curator describes.
During this time, photography in Estonia was in a separate niche; it wasn't exhibited at art exhibitions until the early 1990s. Then many young photographers invaded the art world, whose work was about all sorts of social, political and personal themes put into a fresh, conceptual, playful and powerful way. According to Epner, DeStudio, being one of the first breakthroughs, played a role there: "It was unexpected that as a group of photographers, their photos were displayed at galleries and exhibitions. DeStudio was also among the first photography authors whose works art museums bought and eventually accepted photography as part of the art field."
DeStudio also acted as an advertising agency, offering customers intact solutions from slogans to designs. They were highly successful, being Estonia's best-known agencies. Herkki-Erich Merila and Peeter Laurits met in childhood. Both started working in photography in the 1980s, and their collaboration began even before launching DeStudio.

The exhibition "Hangover" is open at Fotografiska from May 28 to autumn. The display is enhanced by an extensive 300-page freshly released photo book containing a wide range of DeStudio works. In addition, the public can watch the short film "DeStudio. Hangover. Pohmelus" (director Marianne Kõver) in the exhibition space.