Tanel Veenre

Tanel Veenre BeforeAfter June 24, through July 16, 2023 Ornamentum welcomes Tanel Veenre for the opening of BeforeAfter . Based in Talinn, Estonian jeweler Tanel Veenre is a romantic. Fairytales...

The Garden of Heavenly and Earthly Delights.

I wish to explore beyond reason, to search for the human core hidden beneath the thick lacquer of culture. Ecstatic experiences as the doorway to the animal side of man. In my research I have explored both religious and sexual ecstacy, elaborate feelings of losing the self within pleasure. I have followed baroque ideas of how art should communicate with direct emotional involvement. These are my allegories, projecting sensual power, fulfilling utopias of spiritual and physical pleasure.

T.V. 2018


Residing in Talinn, Estonia, The Garden of Heavenly & Earthly Delights is Tanel Veenre's 3rd solo exhibition with Ornamentum.
In addition to his jewelry art, Veenre runs a successful production of cutting-edge fashion jewelry, he has worked as professor of Design at the Estonian Academy of Arts and he exhibits, teaches and lectures worldwide. Veenre's works can be found in numerous private and public collections worldwide, including the Estonian National Museum and the Estonian History Museum.

The flounces of wood and bone comprise an attempt to clear my thoughts, to lose the narrative behind the image.
The image of drapery is banal. But for me these white folds hide the story of western culture – from antiquity to Christian culture. Hinting at the presence of the body- hidden erotica without which there would be nothing. I call this series THE WILL.

The series of dark books is more complicated, layered, with multiple meanings.
The theme began haunting me years ago… Last autumn I tackled it again and started sculpting books of ebony and jet. I saw a link with Eco’s The Name of the Rose – with the destruction of occidental verbal wisdom... The inability of words to describe the nature of things, and the attempt of culture to redo this despite everything. The result is jewellery made of carved and actual books – holes piercing them create a bracelet.
It seemed powerful as an image – to shove your hand through words, thereby destroying the content of the book and nullifying the message.
I call this series THE NAME OF THE ROSE.
Tanel Veenre

Living and working in Tallinn, Estonia. Tanel Veenre was educated as a jewellery artist (MA) in the Estonian Academy of Arts (1995-2005) and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (1997-98). exhibiting since 1996, Veenre is known for a broad oeuvre including jewellery, photography and fashion, often intersecting. In 2012, Veenre was named as a professor of Design Faculty at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
Veenre has exhibited and held lectures/ workshops in Estonia, Brazil, China, Scotland, Finland, Portugal, Spain, USA, Norway, Israel, Sweden, Chile, Taiwan, Thailand, Mexico and Germany.

The Will / The Name Of The Rose is Tanel Veenre's second solo exhibition at Ornamentum.