Merike Estna

The House of Leaking Sky

★★☆☆☆

On until 22 November 2026

Is painting better than basketball? Estna’s Estonian pavilion is one of those ‘come back in three months’ dos that have the artist working on site for the duration of the Biennale. Not a bad way to catch an afternoon’s Aperol sun. Less great, however, for the school kids who gave up their sports hall for the painter’s studio.

The glossy tile flooring and gesso-clad walls overlaid on the court do carry a promise of an immersive vista — and Estna is a capable painter. But the whole thing’s a racket, and not one useful for sport. 


notes and notices are short and curt exhibition reviews. Read more:

Liliane Lijn: Seeds of Tomorrow at Sylvia Kouvali ★★★☆☆

Liliane Lijn

Seeds of Tomorrow

★★★☆☆

Are these dreams, floral fields, or psychedelic visions?

Anastasia Pavlou, Reader at Hot Wheels ★★☆☆☆

Anastasia Pavlou

Reader, Part 2; The Reader Reads Words in Sentences

★★☆☆☆

In this game of aesthetic cognition, the idea which survives is of the artist thinking.

The Ear is the Eye of the Soul, Holy See pavilion in Venice ★★★☆☆

Alexander Kluge et al.

The Ear is the Eye of the Soul

★★★☆☆

Nuns singing, musicological trivia, and Comic Sans.

The Stars Fell on Alabama at Edel Assanti ★★★☆☆

Mary L. Bennett, Richard Dial, Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, Ronald Lockett, Joe Minter, Mose Tolliver

The Stars Fell on Alabama: Southern Black Renaissance

★★★☆☆

The commercial imperative is understandable. The art historical intent, less clear.

Eva Rothschild at Modern Art ★★☆☆☆

Eva Rothschild

★★☆☆☆

These sculptures are too clean, too ordered, and too clever for no good reason.

looking to the futurepast, we are treading forward, the Bolivian pavilion in Venice ★☆☆☆☆

looking to the futurepast, we are treading forward

★☆☆☆☆

The contemporary is of no interest to a nation whose future is yet to be dug out from the ground.

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