Priit Pärn in Turku Art Museum’s Darkroom 28 January – 27 March 2011

Priit Pärn to Launch the Animate Exhibition Series

The Animate exhibition series in the Darkroom at the Turku Art Museum will get off to a flying start with work by the Estonian animation director Priit Pärn, one of the foremost animation artists in the world.

Pärn’s drawings and prints have featured in many exhibitions, and he is also known as an illustrator. Work in the animation studio launched Pärn on an international career as animation director.

Although Priit Pärn has taught animation in many schools and institutions all over the world, he considers Turku his second home, having taught animation here from 1994 up to 2007. Pärn played a crucial role in establishing the international reputation of animation training in the Turku Arts Academy.

Selection of Priit Pärn’s work from across the decades

The earliest piece in the three-hour show is ...and Plays Tricks (...ja teeb trikke, 1978, 9 min), the first work by Pärn to win a prize at an animation festival.

His later works place a greater emphasis on social issues. The passions and troubles of human relations are a recurring theme in Pärn’s animations, as in the The Triangle (Kolmnurk, 1982, 15 min).

Pärn also finds inspiration in fine art. In Breakfast on the Grass (Eine Murul, 1987, 24 min), Pärn has transferred the characters in Edouard Manet’s The Luncheon on the Grass into Soviet Estonia, whereas the imagery in Hotel E (1992, 29 min) clearly references Pop Art.

Karl Marx and Marilyn Monroe meet in the animation Karl and Marilyn (2003, 23 min). In the particularly sensual piece Life without Gabriella Ferri (Elu ilma Gabriella Ferrita, 2008, 44 min), coincidences lead to new situations. The selection ends with Pärn’s latest piece, Divers in the Rain (Tuukrid vihmas, 2010, 24 min).

Animations are endowed with the classic properties of the genre

Priit Pärn’s animations are based on his own scripts. He draws the characters and the storyboard, but the actual animation is done by professional animators at the studio.

At the core are the rhythms of the moving image and sound. No spoken lines are needed, for the expressive power of the drawn animation is impressive. Animation allows things to be altered endlessly.

Metaphor is also an important element of the grammar of animation. While Pärn’s works are based on narrativity, they can at times feel perplexing. Pärn does not serve his stories on a plate, leaving instead room for interpretation.

The engaging visuality of Pärn’s animations lingers on long after the viewing experience.