Group show 2017

Le Radeau de la Méduse, 2017, by media artists and film director Jan Ijäs (b. 1975), draws an analogy between the wrecked ships of the refugees rescued to the island of Lampedusa in Italy and the Théodore Géricault painting The Raft of the Medusa, 1818-1819, presented at the Louvre. The painting is based on a true story and depicts the frigate Méduse which was shipwrecked in 1816 while carrying administrative personnel from France to the colonies in Africa. The passengers made it onto a raft that they had built, which went adrift on the open sea with fatal consequences. The painting has since become a universal symbol of despair – and hope.
Sculptor Jouna Karsi (b. 1980) builds sculptures that resemble miniature models. The miniature worlds by Karsi create strongly loaded views with a cinematic atmosphere where the human being is typically absent.
Faith tester, 2017, by artist Otto Karvonen (b. 1975), consists of perfume bottles which contain various religions of the world. This work is a continuation of the performance that Karvonen did in 2016 on the streets of Paris, when he, dressed as a street sweeper, sprayed various world religions on passers-by from his spray bottles. Now the visitors of the exhibition can do this as well. The risk for cross-contamination is great because the gallery air is filled with different world views.
Wolfman, 2015, by media artist Paula Lehtonen (b. 1983) follows the wolfman in the Helsinki night. The character that references popular culture is now from the society marginalized antihero who is fighting with everyday challenges. His integration is complicated by the latent hatred of wolves within the society.
Très énervé, 2017, by photographer Sami Parkkinen (b. 1974) is a portrait of a person hiding under a stretching striped shirt, holding tightly onto its edges – and the person’s own mental limits.
Artist Tamara Piilola (b. 1977) plays with the tradition of landscape painting. Nature is aesthetized in Piilola’s paintings, which mix the realistic with the surreal. Bold lines are combined with picturesque surfaces, as are brilliant and pure colours with the glow of light.
Portrait of a Woman with Accessories, 2016, a series by artist Stiina Saaristo (b. 1976) is a continuation of the artist’s habit of using herself as the model in her drawings. The artists currently draws portraits reflecting on the frailty of human life. In the portraits her face becomes at times nothing more than a study of subcutaneous tissue.