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Art Exhibitions

International Summer Exhibition of the European Artists’ Colonies on the theme WATER from 21 July to 15 October 2023

Erwin_Bowien_-_The_Sand_Dunes_in_Egmond_aan_Zee__Netherlands__1937.png
Erwin Bowien (1899–1972): The Sand Dunes in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands, 1937

 

euroart*, the “European Federation of Artist Colonies” presents a digital summer exhibition of European artist colonies. This summer, the theme of the exhibition is WATER. Many museums or cities and municipalities also exhibit the paintings presented in the digital exhibition. Visit some European artist villages this summer or view the exhibition virtually.

For the second time, euroart, the European Federation of Artist Colonies, is organising a digital summer exhibition. This can be visited in the museums and visitor centres of the participating Artist Colonies. This summer, the theme of the pictures is “WATER”. The participating Artists’ Colonies are from Belgium: Champion, Tervuren and Sint Martens Latem; from Denmark: Faaborg; from France Barbizon; from Germany: Heikendorf, Kronberg, Schwaan, Grötzingen, Prien am Chiemsee, “Schwarzes Haus” Solingen, Darmstadt and Bremen; from the Netherlands: Domburg, Katwijk, Laren, Nunspeet, and Volendam; and from Italy Taranto.

In this exhibition, the Solingen Artists’ Colony “Black House” presents one work each by the painter, Nazi opponent and exile Erwin Bowien (1899-1972) and by the internationally active landscape painter Bettina Heinen-Ayech (1937-2020). Erwin Bowien’s painting “The Sand Dunes in Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands, 1937” will be on display, and Bettina Heinen-Ayech’s “Flower Arrangement over Lake Maggiore in Ticino, Switzerland, 1955” has been selected.Look forward to the digital summer exhibition of European artists’ colonies on the theme of “WATER” and visit the various Artists’ Colonies. More at: www.euroart.eu.

*euroart – the European Federation of Artists’ Colonies – was launched in 1994. It was founded in Brussels under the auspices of the European Parliament and the European Commission. Euroart currently consists of about 70 member organisations, associated organisations and personal members in 13 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Russia. The members organise exhibitions together, exchange views, knowledge and artists. And at the annual meetings, they not only inform each other about developments in their respective colonies, they work together for greater cultural understanding and cooperation in a European context.

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Art Exhibitions

CHART Announces Exhibitors and 3 Year Collaboration with Tivoli Gardens for 2023

CHART, the leading Nordic event for contemporary art, announces its exhibitor list and a three-year collaboration with Tivoli Gardens which will bring contemporary art to the iconic amusement park for a whole month. The art fair and the public programme, will yet again take place at the historic Charlottenborg in central Copenhagen, August 24 – 27, and CHART in Tivoli will be open August 24 – September 24, 2023. 

CHART has expanded the concept of the art fair into an event that incorporates architecture, design and book publishing, public programmes that reach a wide audience, and an around the year presence through its digital platform, CHART Journal. The tradition of a generous public programme continues with performances and music acts in the courtyards of Charlottenborg, free and open for everyone, that turns CHART into a celebration of the arts in the heart of Copenhagen. In addition, the CHART Book Fair, Talks, CHART in Tivoli and CHART Architecture, add to the rich programme. CHART, as a non-profit organisation, emphasises Nordic values that both shape and go beyond aesthetics; social awareness, democratic principles, forward thinking and collaborative practices. 

The 2023 edition is the first under new director Julie Quottrup Silbermann, who has put a special focus on sustainable and socially conscious ways of collecting today and on introducing new entry points for collecting and supporting the art scenes. 

Throughout time, collectors have played an important role in supporting artists and thus the entire artworld ecosystem. Subjective decision-making and experience of course often play a role in collecting, but I want to open up the discussion around the commercial art world, as a whole, to add insight and transparency about who is collecting, how they are doing it and why. (Julie Quottrup Silbermann, Director, CHART) 

The Art Fair 


The 37 exhibitors, consisting of both Nordic and international galleries, participating in the art fair at Charlottenborg, all share an active engagement with the Nordic art scene. Alongside established artists, the galleries will also present a new generation of artists that are achieving recognition both in the Nordics and internationally. 

A new wave of female led galleries from across the Nordics are represented by galleries such as palace enterprise (DK), Saskia Neuman Gallery (SE), VAN ETTEN (NO), Sharp Projects (DK), Þula (IS), ISCA Gallery (NO) and Cora Hillebrand Galleri (SE), most are newly established or new additions among CHART participators.

CHART 2023 exhibitors 


Andersen’s (DK); Galerie Anhava (FI); BERG Contemporary (IS); Galleri Bo Bjerggaard (DK); BORCH Editions (DK); Carl Kostyál (UK/SE/IT); C.C.C. (DK); Cecilia Hillström Gallery (SE); Croy Nielsen (AT); Dorothée Nilsson Gallery (DE); Etage Projects (DK); Galerie Forsblom (FI); Galleria Heino (FI); Galleri Cora Hillebrand (SE); Gether Contemporary (DK); GSA Gallery (SE); Helsinki Contemporary (FI); i8 Gallery (IS); Isca Gallery (NO); Kunsthal Oslo with KCAC (NO/SD); Lagune Ouest (DK); LOYAL (SE); Galleri Magnus Karlsson (SE); Martin Asbæk Gallery (DK); MELK (NO); NEVVEN (SE); palace enterprise (DK); Peder Lund (NO); Persons Projects (DE); Saskia Neuman Gallery (SE); Sharp Projects (DK); SPECTA (DK); Gallery Steinsland Berliner (SE); Galleri Susanne Ottesen (DK); VAN ETTEN (NO); V1 Gallery (DK); Þula (IS). 

CHART in Tivoli: A 3 Year Collaboration Announced 


CHART is thrilled to announce a 3-year partnership with Tivoli Gardens following last year’s successful collaboration. Every August and September for the next 3 years, Tivoli’s visitors will have the opportunity to experience a cultural environment unlike any other in central Copenhagen, as site-specific sculptures, installations and video works are installed alongside the park’s world-famous rides and attractions. The month-long exhibition will be open for all visitors to the iconic amusement park in Copenhagen. 

CHART in Tivoli presents a fresh perspective on traditional exhibition formats. By placing artworks in the context of the historic amusement park Tivoli Gardens, the project offers a new opportunity to broaden the audience for contemporary art. Founded in 1843, Tivoli draws millions of visitors every year and is a well-known venue for performative arts, from ballet and theatre to pop and classical music, and continues to be one of Denmark’s most symbolic cultural locations. Through the exhibitions, CHART is proud to inspire new collaborations across Copenhagen’s cultural scenes and to expand the format for what an art fair can be. 

CHART in Tivoli speaks to the core of our mission to bring the best of contemporary art in the Nordics out into the public space. With this new three year collaboration, we are excited to re-shape and re-define the space for contemporary art in our society today, making it more accessible and more inclusive for everyone. (Julie Quottrup Silbermann, Director, CHART)

CHART in Tivoli, will include artists with well-established international profiles, those with established reputations in the Nordic region as well as emerging artists gaining traction at the local, regional and international level. Among the confirmed artists are Sylvie Fleury (CH), FOS (DK), Inka & Niclas (FI/SE), Jonathan Meese (DE), Oliver Sundqvist (SE/DK). More information will be released in June 2023. 

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Art Exhibitions

The King of Pop lives… in Espoo

Beloved by many, hated by some and a controversial figure after his death, nobody can doubt anyway of the impact of Michael Jackson not only as one of the most important figures in the history of music, but in the general popular culture.

EMMA, the Espoo Museum of Modern Arts, holds this unique exhibition dedicated to the King of Pop with around 100 pieces of art from 48 artists in a collection formed by donations from private and public collections around the world that has been previously displayed in some of the most important cultural capitals of the world such as London or Paris.

Do not waste this chance to visit EMMA to see some unique art, with the highlight of the portrays of Jackson done by Andy Warhol, together with some interesting visual installation and documentaries dedicated to his figure. The ticket to the exhibition includes the access to the rest of EMMA museum, as well as entrance to the other museums located in the WeeGee building. A good suggestion to spend time during these gray days and get immersed in contemporary art alone, with friends or in the company of the whole family.

For more information visit:

https://emmamuseum.fi/en/exhibitions/michael-jackson-on-the-wall/

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Art Exhibitions Inside Finland Travel

Things to do in Helsinki: A visit to Seurasaari island

Photos by: Antonio Diaz

While the good summer weather lasts, it can be tricky when you are visiting Helsinki for a few days or when you are hosting foreign guests to think about interesting places to see not far from the city centre.

The island of Seurasaari is a little jewel to walk around when the weather is nice. Very conveniently located just 20-30 minutes from central Kamppi area, you can easily reach it by bus (line 24 goes there), by using one of the easily accesible city bikes or even by ferry from the Market Square during summer. A perfect destination to spend half a day when weather allows to enjoy outside.

A charming Open-Air Museum

If you want to travel back on time and imagine how was the rural landscape in different areas of Finland, the Open-Air Museum is certainly the highlight of the visit to the island. It has a great array of buildings from different eras, manors, farms, smoke houses, etc scattered around the beautiful landscape that the closeness to the sea gives to the sorroundings. There are many cafeterias where to stop by while taking stroll to have a coffee or a snack, activities for children like going for a ride on a pony and also local sellers have handcrafts on display for purchase.

TIP: The entrance of the museum is 10e per adult, but honestly, unless you are deeply interested in visiting the houses and see the utensils inside, you could skip that and just walk around the buildings on the island for free. So if you are on a low budget, you can skip buying a ticket to allow entrance inside the museum buildings.

Sunbathing and swimming

Seurasaari is also famous as a place for sunbathing and swimming. Just when you cross the bridge, walking to the right, there is a small beach where local citizens like to enjoy the sun and have a picnic. For the lovers of enjoying nature wearing nothing, there are also 2 nudists beach, separated from men and women. Entrance there requires a fee.

Among other amenities, the island also counts with barbecuing area, and it is specially popular to visit there during the Midsummer celebrations, where big bonfires are torched.

For more information:

https://www.kansallismuseo.fi/en/seurasaarenulkomuseo/tutustu-museoon

https://www.hel.fi/helsinki/en/culture/recreation/in-helsinki/seurasaari

https://www.myhelsinki.fi/en/see-and-do/activities/seurasaari-bath-and-beach

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Art Exhibitions

EMMA brings art by Hans Rosenström under the Tapiola sky as part of the Helsinki Festival

Hans Rosenström + Stormglas: Off Seasons
17 August–3 September 2017, The WeeGee Exhibition Centre forecourt, Tapiola, Espoo

EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art takes part in the Helsinki Festival by presenting its’ new collection acquisition Off Seasons. The work is on display on the museum forecourt in the sculpture park in front of the WeeGee Exhibition Centre, where it forms a dialogue with the sounds and elements of its environment and is free for all to see.

Off Season consists of music, structures and plants, forming one unified artwork. The result is an intense, multisensory and immersive experience where viewers can spend time and enjoy the environment. Off Seasons is a sound installation based on the collaboration between the visual artist Hans Rosenström and the Danish artist duo Stormglas (Andreas Borregaard and Mikkel Sørensen.

The work gives the audience an opportunity to listen to the interpretation of the theme of four seasons by four contemporary Nordic composers. The music is composed by Rasmus Zwicki, Fredrik Österling, Sunleif Rasmussen and Martin Rane Bauck. The composers, selected by Stormglas, chose their preferred season, which formed the basis for their composition. Stormglas’ only rule was that the music had to be composed for a quintet. Hans Rosenström edited a soundtrack from the compositions for the work Off Seasons.

“The four seasons are such a familiar theme in classical music, with Vivaldi’s composition of course being the best-known of treatments of it. I combined the seasons into one work, with the intention perhaps to comment on how these days we try to live oblivious to seasons, as if they made no difference,” says Hans Rosenström.

The music was composed for five different instruments, namely electric guitar, accordion, violin, piano and double bass. These, in addition to the sound of breathing, can all be heard through the various speakers. The soundtrack lasts about 30 minutes, and plays on a loop. The work was originally created on commission by the Chart Art Fair in Denmark, and was shown as part of the art fair’s programme in autumn 2016. There it was presented in the courtyard of Copenhagen’s Kunsthal Charlottenborg.

Sound has a special role in Hans Rosenström’s art. He has created sound installations for public spaces and exhibitions throughout the world. The permanent public work of art in the ferry terminal in Stockholm’s Gärdet offers a glimpse into the future. His work that recently featured at the recent ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum Triennial was based on the image of ruins in one of Caspar David Friedrich’s paintings. In Off Seasons, Rosenström returns to the same themes: the mutually opposing concepts of building and ruin, and their presence in our lives and environment.

Off Seasons has recently been acquired for EMMA’s collection and can be set up both indoors and outdoors, changing the location and adjusting the work accordingly. EMMA aims to renew the use of museum collections with modifiable, temporary works and renewable conceptual works in order to regenerate public art, and in this way to take art beyond the confines of museum walls.

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Art Articles Exhibitions Misc

Two new temporary exhibitions in Pärnu Muuseum (Estonia)

Two new temporary exhibitions in Pärnu Muuseum (Estonia):


„Resort Fashion”

From April 29th to August 31st

The resort fashion started to develop in bathing places of late 18th century France and England. A necessity for light and athletic clothing emerged from the development of resorts and the changing traditions and lifestyles. The first resort collections or cruise collections were developed by Jean Patou, Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli during the 1920s.

Resort fashion in Baltic states developed in the context of common European trends until the end of WWII. The ideology of communism and Soviet-type economic planning influenced and controlled all aspects of life, including fashion. Clothing is an eloquent historical evidence – it tells not only about the personality of the wearer, but also about the times – ideas, events, prejudices and achievements, about ideals which the society establishes in a certain point in time, and the dreams, hopes, expectations, and people’s views on beauty.

The exposition „Resort Fashion” acquaints with the fashion of clothing and accessories in resorts from the end of the 19th century until the 1990s. The stocks of Jurmala- and Pärnu Museums and private clothing collection of Ainars Radovics has been used in the exposition.

„People, Streets, Houses”

From April 29th to June 26th

The exhibition is made possible with the cooperation of Jurmala Society of History , Jurmala City museum ( Latvia), Sopot Museum (Poland), The Institue of the History of Architecture in St. Petersburg (Russia), Hanko Museum (Finland), Birstonas Museum (Lithuania) and Pärnu Museum (Estonia) . The exhibition is part of the project “The Northern Stars on the sea coast – the cultural heritage of the Baltic resorts”, and is financially supported by the Northern and Baltic States Mobility program “The Culture”. The exhibition intoduces the influence of resorts on architecture and everyday life in baltic cities.

Ticket price for temporary exhibitions:

– adult: 3€

– children: free

– pupils: 1€

– 2 adults + 2 children: 7€

– concession (ISIC card, pensionners, students) : 2

Pärnu Museum´s permanent exhibition is also open during summer time.

It provides an overview of 11,000 years of history in Pärnu County through exhibits and displays that introduce the life and conditions of the various eras. The main exhibit shows local developments from Neolithic times right up to the late 1980s, and includes a mini-cinema showing archival films. The institution’s pride and joy is the so-called ‘Stone Age Madonna’. At around 8,000 years old, it is the oldest known human-shaped sculpture in the Baltic Sea area. Other star attractions include a fragment of a 14th-century merchant ship and a glass floor that lets you look down onto archaeological remnants of one of the town’s historic gates.

Ticket price for permanent exhibition:

– adult: 4€

– children: free

– pupils: 2€

– 2 adults + 2 children: 10€

– concession (ISIC card, pensionners, students) : 3€

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-6:30pm

Pärnu Museum
Aida 3, Pärnu 80010, Estonia
Tel: +372 44 33 231, +372 44 30 585

E-mail: info@parnumuuseum.ee
www.parnumuuseum.ee

Categories
Art Exhibitions News

Finnish artist Johannes Sorvali to exhibit in New York

Chelsea’s Agora Gallery will feature the original work of Finnish artist Johannes Sorvali in Interpretive Realms. The exhibition is scheduled to run from July 23, 2013 through August 13, 2013. The opening reception will be held on Thursday night, July 25, 2013 from 6-8 pm.

About the Artist

As he opens a window into the limits of reality, Finnish artist Johannes Sorvali discovers impossible possibilities. Inspired by the illustrations of science fiction comics, horror films, and video games, Sorvali creates an otherworldly realm of fantasy. From within these dreamlike visions emerges a world inhabited by strange and intensely powerful creatures; kings and queens, demons and phoenixes are wrapped in turbulence and darkness. Designing his art purely for its aesthetic qualities, Sorvali leaves any interpretation of symbolism or meaning to the viewer’s imagination. The artist builds his works in oil paints on canvas with considered brushstrokes, layering darkness and light in warm and cool hues to give his works a richness of depth and tone.

Johannes Sorvali painting

Born in Helsinki, Finland, Johannes Sorvali grew up in the small town of Kouvola immersed in the influences of computer games, comic books, and graffiti art. Self-taught as an artist, he currently teaches math and chemistry in a high school in Helsinki and lives in the neighboring town of Espoo.

Exhibition Dates: July 23, 2013 – August 13, 2013
Reception: Thursday, July 25, 2013, 6-8 pm
Gallery Location: 530 West 25th St, New York City

Gallery Hours: Tues – Sat, 11a.m. – 6 p.m.

Event URL: http://www.agora-gallery.com/artistpage/Johannes_Sorvali.aspx

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Art Books Exhibitions Features

Comic Exhibition in Helsinki: “Futuro Primitivo”

Portuguese artist and old colaborator Marcos Farrajota visited Finland during the Comic Festival hold in Kamppi, so we had the chance to talk to him about his views on Finland and his current exhibition in Helsinki Comic Centre:

Hi Marcos. You are currently in Finland for the comic fair, and you have visited this country a few times in the past. Can you tell us your impressions about Finland, and what brings you here so often?

I come because of the comics fest. I like Finland culture: music and comics, and I think Finns funny…. They are more latins somehow that look at first sight!

Were there any works-artists that you especially liked during the comic fair in Helsinki?

I think this year the festival looked more commercial so I actually missed some older artists of the Finn scene and didn’t found brand new blood or something that blow my head like in the past. But the best one should be OLIVIER SCHRAUWEN

You told me that you are going to spend time in a residence for artists near Turku. What are you going to be doing there during the next weeks?

I’m doing my new comic book. It’s about people that collect stuff, archives and piracy. Should look like an essay but as usual with autobiographical episodes…

futuro Primitivo

You have a new comic book, where you have put together the works of many artists that send you stories. Can you explain a bit more in detail about the project?

For starters it’s called Futuro Primitivo (Primitive Future in English, Primitiivenen Tuleivassus in Finn) , ripping off a Sepultura song, hahahaha! Well, I fed up of doing anthologies and decide to make a new concept for this… So I decide to make somekind of “narrative DJing” which means that I ask to 40 artists to send comics with a “post-apocalitic” theme but in 2 strips per page so that then I could remix the sequences and turning 40 stories in just one story. I guess nobody made this and this opens a new way to work in comics in the future. Also, you can download for free the soundtrack of the book /exhibition on the net-label You Are Not Stealing Records.

You have a current exhibition in Arabia in Helsinki. Can you say a bit more about what the visitors can find there, and until what date will be running?

Until 1st October, you can see the original work / drawings of the book, so it can see a contemporary comix from Portugal authors. You have all kind of images and graphic styles, I guess this is good for starters, then you can see / buy also Chili com Carne (the label of the publisher of the book) editions and the silkscreens – some also are “graphic DJing”, we ask some graphic designers to pick up images of the comix book to make a new image / poster / silkscreen.

What are your next projects after your stay in Finland?

Actually the show goes to Mälmo (Sweden) to open there in 14th October… I try not to think about the future (primitive or not) because I’m focusing in my new book so going to Sweden is already something real… And then in December is the Independent Edition Fair in Portugal – in Porto, at Maus Hábitos venue. Go there!

FUTURO PRIMITIVO exhibition in Helsinki Comic Centre – Sarjakuvakeskuksella 5.9.–1.10

Categories
Art Exhibitions

Finnish artist Hanna Westerberg will exhibit in New York

Chelsea’s Agora Gallery will feature a Helsinki native artist, Hanna Westerberg, in Passages. The exhibition is scheduled to run from March 25, 2011 through April 15, 2011 (opening reception: Thursday, March 31, 2011).

About the Artist
Hanna Westerberg’s latest works are monolithic in their stature. These large format pieces on canvas and okoume plywood stand as memory aids, documenting the artist’s perceptions of spaces such as the Finnish National Theater, a prison, an old hospital and an airplane factory. Created on site, the works are richly developed gestural creations that communicate the broadest and most detailed of spatial nuances. Westerberg uses charcoal, tempera, ink, and oil paints to layer thin washes of coloration and grayscale tones in combination with scrawling line work. The effect is that of a line drawing, yet the prodigious scale gives the complex relationship between foreground and background an effect almost of vertigo. Westerberg controls space in her works, pushing and pulling the image from the viewer. Her intense use of drawing materials creates a strong sense of movement and action, even though these typically busy spaces are vacant of their occupants.

Hanna Westerberg lives and works in Helsinki, Finland.

Hanna Westerberg

About the Exhibition:
Celebrate the spring with Agora Gallery’s new series of exhibitions. Through Contemporary German Art: The New York Experience you can get in touch with the energetic talent of some of the best of German art today. Full of personal insight, yet containing universal understanding and appreciation, these artists use their cultural heritage to create unique and innovative pieces of art. In Degrees of Abstraction you can view the works of artists who get to the heart of the complex mysteries of the world as they treat everything they meet with gentle but creative respect. Delightful but thought-provoking, these images will resonate with something deep within. Passages presents artworks which speak of the life-changing and perception-altering power of journeys both personal and physical. Reflective of the artists’ experience, they will also help viewers themselves to gain a new perspective on everyday life and humanity.

Exhibition Dates: March 25, 2011 – April 15, 2011
Reception: Thursday, March 31, 2011, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Gallery Location: 530 West 25th St, New York City
Gallery Hours: Tues – Sat, 11a.m. – 6 p.m.

Event URL: http://www.agora-gallery.com/artistpage/Hanna_Westerberg.aspx

Categories
Art Exhibitions

The Gang of Kathmandu – Photo exhibition in Helsinki

A very interesting photo exhibition is currently running in the Finnish capital:

The author, Helsinki based photographer Filippo Zambon, tells us about this project:

In the fall 2010 I worked on a photo-documentary about the daily life of the street children of Kathmandu, Nepal. Those children allowed me to follow them during their peregrinations around the city. I followed them during the day when they work collecting cardboards in the dirty and busy streets of Kathmandu. I photographed their struggles, their addictions and the poverty that they are facing everyday. But mostly, this is a story of solidarity and brotherhood. The work is my homage to those children and their freedom.

Gang of Kathmandu

The exhibition will be open every day from 11.00 to 18.00 until the 30th of January

The Gang of Kathmandu
Kuvataideakatemian Galleria
Kasarmikatu 44
Helsinki, Finland

Categories
Art Exhibitions

Julie Myers: to travel somewhere

{mosimage}The Kunsthalle Helsinki Studio (Nervanderinkatu 3) hosts until March 30th the results of a very interesting project developed in 2007 by Julie Myers.

 

T

o travel somewhere was developed as a phone/walking project involving San Francisco, Cambridge and Helsinki, where the artist started a journey by asking passers-by about their favorite places in the city. Following indications that directed her to swimming pools, bars, parks, museums, markets Myers collected images, videos, sound files and texts on her mobile and developed itineraries for the three ciries. the material was then loaded onto the project website ( http://www.julie9.org ) and given GPS coordinate so that the itineraries could be traced on a world map.

 

The result is a vivid emotional portrait of each city, and the chance to discover places through the memories of other people, a portrait that reveals what we consider important marks in our daily life environment and landscape. The exhibition comprises the seven videos taken in Helsinki and the website, where the walks in the other cities are visible, thus offering the possibility of discoverig emotional similarities among the three quite different cities.

Kunsthalle Helsinki (www.taidehalli.fi), until March 30th

 

Categories
Art Exhibitions

Tales from Denmark

{mosimage}This autumn’s
main exhibition at Ateneum museum travels to Denmark and brings an overview of
Danish 19th-century art. Starting from the Golden Age, it presents 90 works from major Danish artists including C.W.
Eckersberg, Christen Købke, J.Th. Lundbye, P.C. Skovgaard, Vilhelm Hammershøi
and L.A. Ring. This is the most extensive collection of Danish Golden Age art
ever seen in Finland. Also side activities are organized: the
festival of Danish music is this weekend. On the right: M.L. Nathanson's Elder Daughters Bella and Hanna (C.W. Eckersberg, 1820)

In spite of
economic depression and poverty, between 1815 and 1850 Danish art blossomed in
what it is known today as the Golden Age of Danish art. This is the time of
storyteller H.C. Andersen. Artists created skillful portrayals of their surroundings
and friends, creating warm paintings of everyday life. At that time, Danish art
differed from that of the other Nordic countries.

The exhibition
is divided into two major sections: landscapes (nature) and pictures of home
(people). Landscape painting grew in popularity in the 1830s and it made
artists participate in the making of a national identity. Artists like Thomas
Lundbye
felt it was their mission to “paint their beloved Denmark with all the
simplicity and modesty so characteristic of it”.

Artists
also found inspiration inside home and soon portrait painting started developing
along with the rise of a middle-class lifestyle. Among others C.W. Eckersberg
and Christen Købke emphasized family relations and the passing on of
traditions.

Tales from
Denmark also extends to the art of the late 19th century, when Nordic artist
communities were created, like Skagen, which included Michael and Anna Ancher
and P.S. Krøyer. Friends at work or evening get togethers were often depicted
by these artists.

This
exhibition is based on Ateneum’s own collection of Danish art. In 1953, Norwegian-born
ship owner Hans Beyer Tobiesen donated 14 high-class paitings of Danish 19th-century
art. For the past years this collection has been deposited at Finland’s Embassy
in Copenhagen. Paintings from the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, the Nationalmuseum
in Stockholm and private collections completed the 90 works on show.

Tales from
Denmark
is not only an art exhibition. Lectures, workshops, dance and music for
children and adults complete until the end of January four months of events.
This weekend the festival of Danish music features wind quintet Carion.

Front page painting – Evening at Skagen (Peder Severin Krøyer, 1893)
 

Until 27 January
Ateneum, Kaivokatu 2,
Helsinki
Opening
hours: Tue, Fri 9-18, Thu 9-20, Sat, Sun 11-17, Mon closed
Admission
8/6,50 euro. Free for visitors under 18.
More information:
www.ateneum.fi

Categories
Art Exhibitions

Colours in a natural relation

{mosimage}Dan Beard is
a young British artist who works and lives in Tampere. A couple of months ago he had his
first solo show in Galleria Oma Huone, and now continues moving around the art
scene of Helsinki with this new current exhibition that brings his paintings to
Kanneltalo, the cultural centre in Kannelmäki, Helsinki.

 

 

There, you can see a total of 15 woks where
the colours sometimes get mixed and other times fight with each other, trying to
find their own space in the canvas. Sensual shapes appear as a final result on
some paintings that could even remind of the matrix of our existence: the
vagina. Some other times the colors adopt the form or a millenarian dragon but
most of the times they simply let you explore your own feelings when
contemplating his palette of bright blues, greens and yellows exploding in
front of your eyes. A risky conception of art that maybe will not satisfy the
most conservative viewers, but worthy to check nevertheless.

Together with Beard’s paintings, the
galleria exhibits the sculptures of Jussi Aulis, pieces of metal and
rusty tin composing human shapes that resemble strange warriors or even a
reminiscence of Don Quixote. It is fresh and pretty recommended.

2-27.8
Jussi Aulis' sculptures and Dan Beard’s
paintings in Kanneltalo Gallery, Helsinki (next to Kannelmäki railway
station)
The exhibition will be open also during Helsinki
Night of Arts 24.8.07

 

{mosimage}{mosimage} 
Categories
Art Exhibitions

Us and them

{mosimage}
Once every three years something exciting
happens in Jyväskylä – LUMO the International Photography Triennial comes to
town. This year celebrates the 7th LUMO event with the theme of ‘us’ and like the previous six, promises
everything one should expect of an internationally renowned triennial.

The theme of ‘us’ has attracted photographers whose work challenges notions of
communality and identity. The exhibition has been designed to test the
boundaries of cultural preconceptions and socio-political phenomena. This year
photographers are arriving from four different continents to dismantle and
magnify stereotypes of the exotic, pioneer mythologies, forgotten recent
history and the concealed present.

Images and subject matter are both unsettling
and controversial. Particularly in the works of South African artist Pieter
Hugo
, where in the series Looking Aside
(2005) we are faced with images such as that of Londiwe Wendy Mkhize. Discomfort arises when the
seemingly ‘white’-skinned girl is recognised for her features as a native South
African. From the perspective of a Northern European it seems difficult to
grasp that the skin colour that is generally accepted and desired in the
Western world is quite literally a disease for those outside the European
genetic paradigm.

Likewise, fellow South African artist Mikhael Subotzky
has produced images which expose what life is like inside and after prison. For
the series Die Vier Hoeke (2005) Subotzky visited Pollsmoor Prison, Nelson Mandela’s former
lock-up, to reveal conditions in which numerous native South African prisoners
are literally piled into single cells. The cells consist of several bunk beds
on which the lucky ones have a chance to sleep. The not-so-lucky ones are
forced to sleep back-to-back on the cold cement floor.

In the works of Cairo-based Lara Baladi cultural-hybridity
is expressed through blends of religious iconography, nature photographs and
pop culture relics. The brightly coloured panoramic montage of Justice for the Mother (2007) draws many associations to the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper album
cover, and not surprisingly the Beatles’ Lone Hearts Club Band has been placed
in this mythological paradise underneath a giant rhinoceros.

The cultural infiltration of communism is subtly
reflected in the works of Cuban photographers José A. Figueroa and Alejandro González. In
the series The Cuban Sixties Figueroa attempts to capture
the rebellious undercurrent of youth who craved for individuality in the face
of mass conformity, and in the series the City
of Havana (2005), González captures quiet reminders of Cuba’s past
political unrest. Lenin
Park is revisited with
its monuments, abandoned equipment and old army trucks that picnicking families
and grazing cows seem oblivious to.

Finally, in addition to Charlotte
Haslund-Christensen
’s questioning of authenticity through re-capturing poses of
Danish explorers in Natives: The Danes (2006), Young Finnish Artists of the Year
2007, Jaana and Tiina Penttinen capture the dynamics of family and friend
relations in the confines of cultural protocol in their series Hyvät Tavat (Good
Manners, 2006).

Other featured photographers include Dale
Yudelman
(South Africa), Raúl Cordero (Cuba)
and Rana ElNemr (Egypt).
LUMO ’07 ‘us’ runs June 9th
– September 30th, at Gallery Harmonia Jyväskylä.

Categories
Art Exhibitions

OUR LAND! – Photographs from Finland

2007 is the year of a big celebration! Finland has its 90th anniversary of national independence this December. Over the past decades, Finland has experienced an unprecedented rate of economic, technological and social change. Our whole way of life is now totally different from what it used to be a few decades ago.

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Oi Maamme! – (Our Land!) is an exhibition about changes in the Finnish life from the 60s to the present day. 23 photographers show how Finns have lived in recent decades, both in Finland and as migrants abroad. When looking at the photographs you will see a development in Finnish lifestyle as well as in photography.

You take for granted the things that you see every day, don’t you? It is good to see how this country has changed but somehow stayed the same (yes, Finnish children have always been blonde and blue eyed!) Still, a lot has changed in the everyday life of Finns during these decades: jobs, buildings, cars and fashions. But as a Finn, I see that all of these photos have been taken in Finland. Or maybe I am just so old that I actually remember how good old Finland use to be. Or maybe all countries are developing in the same direction, so it is more and more difficult to point out the differences between them?

If you haven’t been around for so long or if you just don’t recognise Finland when looking at these pictures, then you have to admit, these photographs are very fine pieces of art!

The exhibition is held at Tennis palace Art Museum, Salomonkatu 15, 00100 Helsinki.

Open Tue-Sun 11 a.m. – 8.30 p.m, Mon closed.

Tickets: 5 to 7 euros. Admission is free for children under 18. Free admission on Fridays.