Edith Karlson's Hora lupi at Venice Biennale 2024

Estonian artist Edith Karlson (born 1983, Tallinn) presents Hora lupi at the Venice Biennale 2024, held in the Church of Santa Maria delle Penitenti in Cannaregio. The exhibition explores the moment of being on the edge of a precipice, combining sculpture and dramaturgy to evoke feelings of falling, absurdity, and inevitability. Karlson's practice heavily features animals, inspired by their honesty and natural being; a section of the show is dedicated to her late chihuahua Kusti. The project evolved from her 2021 solo exhibition Return to Innocence at the Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art, adapted for the church space. Karlson cites influences from Estonian sculptors August Weizenberg, Anu Põder, and Ülo Õun, as well as contemporaries Kris Lemsalu and Johanna Ulfsak, and the Italian group Gelitini. She describes the Estonian art scene as progressive but adolescent, shaped by the collapse of the Soviet Union and aggressive capitalism of the 1990s.