Emerging

Galerie Anhava continues its 20th-anniversary celebrations by presenting a number of interesting young artists:

Jenni Eskola (born1982) draws copies of the same picture again and again, or fills the surface of the image with numerous loop designs. Meticulous repetition, starting from scratch each time, is a recurring theme in Eskola's work. For the artist, repetition is an event that in its termination always returns to its starting point. Time is one of the main materials of her works, for the series that is produced as a result requires, without exception, long-term concentration. Despite the precision of her work, Eskola is interested in the minute details that distinguish mechanical replication from unique work.

Eskola will display at Galerie Anhava a series of drawings, each of which corresponds to one day. The empty white part of each of these "light drawings" is defined by the amount of daylight. In the Studio at Galerie Anhava, the turning points of the seasons, such as the spring equinox, are in the four corners of the room. The time of the exhibition, the month of November, forms a pause in the artwork, being placed in the doorway, an empty part of the room. Also on display will be Eskola's video piece entitled Loop.


Joseph James (born 1979) is an artist born in the United States and residing in Finland. His medium is paper cutting with drawings cut out of their background, leaving a cobweb-like design, line separated from paper. James combines an unrestrained style of drawing and the relaxed mark of his hand with precise cutting, merging the expressiveness of drawing with the delicateness of the final work. While his works may derive from figurative subjects, they are reduced to an almost abstract state. Occasionally, they emphasize the movement of drawing and there is no figurative starting point. Partly assembled in layers and mounted with ample space, the artist's works create the illusion of designs drawn in the air that defy gravity.


The Icelandic artist Egill Saebjörnsson (born 1973), who currently resides in Berlin, combines installation, video, performance and animation. His works on display at Galerie Anhava mostly consist of quite average, everyday objects, such as chicken netting and plastic buckets. Kugeln is composed of cleaning equipment. The nature of the objects, however, changes when the artist projects rays of light, designs and colours on them, creating a scene for them. In a dark space, the silhouettes and reflections of the objects on the walls transform composed still-lifes of everyday items into small dramas. Saebjörnsson is also a musician, and sound, occasionally live performances, often play an important role in his works.


Kari Vehosalo's (born 1982) paintings combine realistic, photographically accurate portrayal with the unreal nature of the depicted events. References to past decades and black and white work distance the images into their own reality. At the same time, these nostalgic, richly detailed paintings of accomplished technique appeal to the viewer. Viewing them, however, involved a contradiction. The situation becomes uncomfortable when attention is drawn in the paintings to occasionally distasteful events or moments that are felt to be embarrassing. Strangeness overturns the viewing situation. The exhibition features new paintings from the artist's series Fear of Violent Death.

Piia Oksanen