Samma's artistic research primarily addresses the history of sexuality and social relations in vernacular cultures. ‘Jockstrap with a Blue Waistband’ juxtaposes symbols of gay culture, such as jockstraps, with the iconography of conventional craft. Samma offers an imaginary reading of simple living in the village from a homoerotic perspective, indirectly posing a vital question: what do we know about simple living outside of the grand narratives of heteronormativity, where the “other” was fetishised or loathed? 

Jaanus Samma (b. 1983) is a visual artist from Estonia. His body of work includes photos, installations and videos with topics that have been grounded in the study of urban space and the subjective experiences of it. Over the years his interests have moved towards gender studies investigating into the representation of male sexuality and ways of portraying this by artistic means.

His fields of interest include history, ethnography and museology as well as the narratives used at the intersection of the three. In queering national heritage, he has found ways of broadening the perspectives on identity formation and offered alternative ways of contextualising the past. Samma’s practice relies on fieldwork – interviews and archive research – to produce subjective artistic output based on his findings.

Samma has recently taken part in the WIELS residency program, Brussels. In 2015, he represented Estonia at the 56th Venice Biennale with his project “NSFW. A Chairman’s Tale”. In 2013, he was awarded the Köler Prize by the Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia.

Samma’s recent solo exhibitions include „Outhouse by the Church”, curated by Eugenio Viola, Nomas Foundation, Rome (2018); "Sõnumid – Viestejä", The Aine Art Museum, Tornio (2018); "Divider", Temnikova & Kasela, Tallinn (2017); “Three Works at a Canteen”, ex-canteen factory Kalibr, Minsk (2016); “Not Suitable For Work. A Chairman’s Tale”, curated by Eugenio Viola, Museum of Occupations, Tallinn (2016); “Unrest", Gotlands Konstmuseum (2015) and "The Hair Sucks Sweater Shop", Tallinn Art Hall Gallery (2014).

His works have been featured in group exhibitions including "and suddenly it all blossoms", The 2nd Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art curated by Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel “There and Back Again. Contemporary art from the Baltic Sea region”, Kiasma, Helsinki (2018-2019); “The State is not a Work of Art”, curated by Katerina Gregos, Tallinn Art Hall (2018); "Queerly Classed", curated by Yevgeniy Fiks and Olga Kopenkina, Franklin Street Works, Connecticut (2017); “Masters Peasants Peasants Masters”, BWA Sokól, Nowy Sacz (2016); “Kunstnerbøger – Vildt Voksende”, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen (2016); “Untold Stories”, Tallinn Art Hall (2011) and Luleå Art Biennial (2009)