Peep Ainsoo is an Estonian artist, designer and art teacher.
Peep Ainsoo (pronounced ['pε:p 'aɪnso:], listen) was born in 1958 in Viljandi, Estonia, and grew up in Pärnu, where his family had relocated for his father's job. His father Edgar was from Viljandi County, and his mother Maie from Tallinn. Edgar, a trained geodesist-meliorator, was Head Engineer at Pärnu Land Improvement Office, while Maie was principally a housewife but also an agile knitter and seamstress. The family included Peep's sister Kaja, nine years his senior, and, occasionally, a cat.
The young Peep was enrolled in Pärnu 1st High School named after August Jakobson (currently Pärnu Co-educational Gymnasium). Ever since primary school, he found a pleasant change in the school's art club, which he attended up until the end of secondary school. The instructor, Eha Kolk, was an outstanding teacher who managed to create a relaxed, unconstrained atmosphere in her class, which, given the context of the Soviet era, can be deemed as an achievement in itself. Looking back now, it is evident that the sense of freedom that Peep experienced there became associated with art and influenced his choice of career later in life. Curiously, according to the future artist's teachers, one of his primary school drawings made it all the way to an exhibition in Japan.
Peep's first contacts with the modern art as practised in the West were through books, magazines and films. But it was the vinyl record covers infiltrated through the Iron Curtain that left a lasting impression with their designs - which, in Peep's words, "came across as an unreal parallel world for someone from the then USSR". During high school, Peep and his friends began visiting their first major art exhibitions in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. Among the most awe-inspiring was the exhibition series "Ruum ja vorm" ("Space and Form"), created by Bruno Tomberg, the grand old man of Estonian design.
In the years 1979–1985, Peep studied Design at the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (nowadays, the Estonian Academy of Arts). From this era, he can still recall the colourful characters among the lecturers, each of whom had their own unique insight to share with the students. As Peep has commented, "It was frustrating at the time but it is now fun to recall that the scholars' beliefs were, every so often, in direct opposition with one another, and thus, we as learners found ourselves caught in the crossfire with our school assignments." Also influential on Peep's creations and style, during his studies, were the opinions of his friends and fellow students.
After graduation from the Institute, Peep moved to Tartu, where he still lives today. First, he started work as a Composition, Principles of Design, and Drawing, teacher at Tartu Art School. Additionally, every year, he would supervise several final papers. It was during that time that he began making his large-scale ink paintings, which he would submit to exhibitions, and which may sometimes still pop up on sale here and there. At the same time, Peep's professional skills were perfected by work on order – creating company graphics and designing interiors.
In 1991, Peep quit teaching and worked firstly as a freelancer, then at private firms – mainly at a few pharmaceutical companies, at the print shop Tõravere Trükikoda, and at the cartography company EOMAP. In the 2010's, Peep was chiefly a freelance designer and photographer. All jobs considered, Peep's work has decorated a large variety of surfaces from logos and banners to postcards and posters, from books and board games to interiors and art exhibits.
Lately, he has been focusing on his new digital graphic art, which he has been publishing on social media, and in various group exhibitions, since 2021.
Written by K.-T. Tammepuu and P. Ainsoo, translated by K.-T. Tammepuu
The young Peep was enrolled in Pärnu 1st High School named after August Jakobson (currently Pärnu Co-educational Gymnasium). Ever since primary school, he found a pleasant change in the school's art club, which he attended up until the end of secondary school. The instructor, Eha Kolk, was an outstanding teacher who managed to create a relaxed, unconstrained atmosphere in her class, which, given the context of the Soviet era, can be deemed as an achievement in itself. Looking back now, it is evident that the sense of freedom that Peep experienced there became associated with art and influenced his choice of career later in life. Curiously, according to the future artist's teachers, one of his primary school drawings made it all the way to an exhibition in Japan.
Peep's first contacts with the modern art as practised in the West were through books, magazines and films. But it was the vinyl record covers infiltrated through the Iron Curtain that left a lasting impression with their designs - which, in Peep's words, "came across as an unreal parallel world for someone from the then USSR". During high school, Peep and his friends began visiting their first major art exhibitions in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. Among the most awe-inspiring was the exhibition series "Ruum ja vorm" ("Space and Form"), created by Bruno Tomberg, the grand old man of Estonian design.
In the years 1979–1985, Peep studied Design at the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (nowadays, the Estonian Academy of Arts). From this era, he can still recall the colourful characters among the lecturers, each of whom had their own unique insight to share with the students. As Peep has commented, "It was frustrating at the time but it is now fun to recall that the scholars' beliefs were, every so often, in direct opposition with one another, and thus, we as learners found ourselves caught in the crossfire with our school assignments." Also influential on Peep's creations and style, during his studies, were the opinions of his friends and fellow students.
After graduation from the Institute, Peep moved to Tartu, where he still lives today. First, he started work as a Composition, Principles of Design, and Drawing, teacher at Tartu Art School. Additionally, every year, he would supervise several final papers. It was during that time that he began making his large-scale ink paintings, which he would submit to exhibitions, and which may sometimes still pop up on sale here and there. At the same time, Peep's professional skills were perfected by work on order – creating company graphics and designing interiors.
In 1991, Peep quit teaching and worked firstly as a freelancer, then at private firms – mainly at a few pharmaceutical companies, at the print shop Tõravere Trükikoda, and at the cartography company EOMAP. In the 2010's, Peep was chiefly a freelance designer and photographer. All jobs considered, Peep's work has decorated a large variety of surfaces from logos and banners to postcards and posters, from books and board games to interiors and art exhibits.
Lately, he has been focusing on his new digital graphic art, which he has been publishing on social media, and in various group exhibitions, since 2021.
Written by K.-T. Tammepuu and P. Ainsoo, translated by K.-T. Tammepuu