Enno Ootsing (born 18 April 1940) is an Estonian artist and academic. He has worked as a freelance graphic artist and designer, book artist and illustrator. In 1980, he became a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts, and from 1984 until 2005, he was a professor and head of the graphics department of the institute. Since 2007 he has been a professor emeritus at the institute.
Early life and education
Enno Ootsing was born in
Räpina
Räpina ( vro, Räpinä, german: Rappin) is a town in Põlva County, Estonia. Räpina was administrative centre of Räpina raion from 1950 until 1961, currently it is the administrative centre of Räpina Parish. The oldest commercial enter ...
Alamõisa
Alamõisa is a village in Tõrva Parish, Valga County in Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to ...
for his participation in the war, where he built a home. Ootsing attended schools in Räpina, graduating from Räpina Secondary School in 1958. Afterwards, he enrolled at the Tartu Art School, graduating in 1961 with a degree in painting and art pedagogy. In 1966 he graduated from the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (now, the Estonian Academy of Arts) in Tallinn with a degree in graphic design.
Career
Art
In 1964, Ootising was a cofounder of the influential art collective
ANK '64
ANK '64was an Estonian artist collective active in the years 1964 to 1969 in Tallinn.
The group included originally 10 artists: Jüri Arrak, , , Malle Leis, , Enno Ootsing, , , Aili Vint and Tõnis Vint.Tõnis Vint,
Malle Leis
Malle Leis (7 July 1940 – 9 August 2017) was an Estonian painter and graphic artist. Her works mostly represent abstract forms in nature, including flowers, fruits, and vegetables. She developed a silk screen technique that became her trademark ...
,
Jüri Arrak
Jüri Arrak (24 October 1936 – 16 October 2022) was an Estonian painter, whose works with distinguished and recognizable style have won acclaim around the world.
Arrak was born in Tallinn on 24 October 1936, and graduated from the Estonian St ...
, Kristiina Kaasik, Tiiu Pallo-Vaik, Vello Tamm, Marju Mutsu, Tõnis Laanemaa, Anu Liivak, Sigrid Saarep, and
Aili Vint
Aili Vint (born 25 April 1941 in Rakvere) is an Estonian graphic designer and painter.
In 1967, she graduated from Estonian State Art Institute.
1964–1970, she was a member of ANK '64. Since 1970, she is a freelance artist.
Awards
* 1994: K ...
op art
Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions.
Op artworks are abstract, with many better-known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images ...
and pop art, but didn't share a predominant cohesive artistic style. Members of the group were not only active as artists, but also organized and attended lectures on foreign artists and their activities. Their activities aroused suspicion by Soviet authorities and the group were frequently monitored by the KGB. ANK' 64 disbanded in 1969 and is credited as playing an important part in renewing the contemporary art scene in Estonia in the 1960s.
Since the mid-1960s, Ootsing has had numerous group and solo exhibitions, both nationally and internationally. Although he has worked in a variety of mediums, he prefers to work in monotyping and automatic drawing. He is also known for his work in watercolor. His most recent solo exhibition, ''Juured ja võrsed. Album'', dedicated one-hundred works of visual art to the
100th Anniversary of the Estonian Republic
The 100th Anniversary of the Estonian Republic (or more commonly used Estonia 100) is an official government program for the celebration of the Republic of Estonia's 100th anniversary. The official anniversary was marked on 24 February 2018, whil ...
, with an emphasis on Võrumaa was held in Võru and
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
in 2018.
He has worked extensively as a graphic artist and
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...
er and has become well known as a book designer and illustrator; beginning in the early 1970s, he has designed and illustrated books written by
A. H. Tammsaare
Anton Hansen (18 (O.S.)/30 January 1878 – 1 March 1940), better known by his pseudonym A. H. Tammsaare and its variants, was an Estonian writer whose pentalogy '' Truth and Justice'' (''Tõde ja õigus''; 1926–1933) is considered one of ...
Eduard Vilde
Eduard Vilde ( – 26 December 1933) was an Estonian writer, a pioneer of critical realism in Estonian literature, and a diplomat. Author of classics such as ''The War in Mahtra'' and ''The Milkman from Mäeküla''. He was one of the most reve ...
Viivi Luik
Viivi Luik (born 6 November 1946, in Tänassilma, Estonia) is an Estonian writer and poet.
Life
From 1965 to 1967, Luik studied at the Tallinn extramural secondary school, working at the same time as a librarian. In 1970, Luik joined the Esto ...
Friedrich Issak
Friedrich Issak (20 November 1915, Petrograd – 11 May 1991) was an Estonian sportsman and journalist. As a javelin thrower, he won gold and bronze medals at the International University Games and was national champion of Estonia and late ...
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...
,
Vladislav Titov
Vladislav Andreevich Titov (russian: Владислав Андреевич Титов; November 7, 1934 – May 1, 1987) was a Soviet socialist realist writer.
At the age of 26 he lost both arms in a coal mine accident. He became a novelist, ...
, and
Rachel de Queiroz
Rachel de Queiroz (, November 17, 1910 – November 4, 2003) was a Brazilian author, translator and journalist.
Biography
Rachel de Queiroz was born on 17 November 1910 in Fortaleza, capital of the northeastern state of Ceará. During her chi ...
.
From 1965 until 1972 he worked as an artist and designer for the magazine ''
Kultuur ja Elu
''Kultuur ja Elu'' (meaning "Culture and Life" in English) is an Estonian magazine dedicated to culture.
History and profile
''Kultuur ja Elu'' has been issued since 1958.
In the 21st century, the journal developed into an almost exclusively m ...
''. From 1972 until 1976, he was the executive secretary of the Estonian Artists' Union. From 1976 until 1980 he was a freelance artist.
Educator
In 1980, he became a lecturer at the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR. In 1982 he was elected head of the graphics department of the institute. He was a professor at the institute until retiring in 2005 (renamed the Estonian Academy of Arts). Since 2007, he has been a professor emeritus with the academy.
Estonian SSR
The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
(1983)
*Riga I Triennial of Miniature Prints award (1983)