News / Upcoming
The Kuopio Art Museum ‘Moving Forms’
25 April – 1 September 2019
Th rhythm of line, the feeling of motion, the mutual tension and dynamics of the forms of piece. These elements create an exhibition where movement is present in works depicting sport and the dynamics of the body both in moving images and as forms, lines and colours. Art and physical exercise meet in this exhibition compiled from works in the collections of the Kuopio Art Museum, with issues of the balance of mind and body and overall well-being emerging as its themes.
Gallery Rankka ‘Bureaucracy’ 10.5. - 30.6.2019
Paavo Räbinä: ‘ The day that will never come’ - solo show at Gallery Sculptor, Helsinki
25.10. - 18.11.2018
Where does hatred derive from? It seems to be taking over the world: political violence has become more and more common and religious juxtaposition has arisen in the western societies. The forms of hatred known in today’s society have been formed culturally and historically. Our history is filled with different kinds of acts of violence, of which the organized form of hatred, war, is the most obvious example. Marks of hatred make scars that will last for a long time.
Religious juxtaposition has strenghtened in 2000’s. This is visible especially in the conflicts between different religious groups. Religions have played a remarkable role in many wars. The motives for the acts of hatred have been justified by faith. Acts of violence towards infidel people have been justified by holy hatred, so that the contradiction between ‘the hatred’ and ‘the holy hatred’ has been possible to justify.
The artworks in the exhibition deal with acts of hatred: war, violence, struggle for power, and suffering. These are tragic, painful issues. Wars that motivate acts of hatred and struggle for power belong to our daily lives through news – do we get too used to these? Our century has been exceptionally bloodstained. In Finland the wars have left a permanent mark on the minds of the people who experienced it. These scars take decades to heal, and some of them are being transmitted to the next generations – silently, without words.
In my work I articulate motives behind the acts of hatred, historical events and collectively shared feelings: When is the war righteous? Where does it gain its vitality? How should one relate to wars? Through these works one can deconstruct and redefine one’s thoughts about war, violence and suffering – the role of tragedy in art is to help to understand, horrify and feel empathy.
Civil War’ - Group show at WAM - Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, Finland
5.10.2018 - 13.1.2019
A civil war is always a human tragedy that touches on an individual level, on a family level and on a national level – or even globally. Since the end of the Finnish Civil War, there has been about fifty armed conflicts worldwide that can be classified as civil wars. Some of these conflicts have lasted decades, and each of them has been a humanitarian catastrophe.
This exhibition explores the themes of war, violence and the organisations behind the violence. The exhibition shows that war is destruction. It is fear, sorrow, horror and death, and there is nothing beautiful in it. Today millions of people live in the middle of the chaos of war. In a civil war both the victims and the soldiers are just ordinary people: men and women – and children. It can happen anywhere and to anyone. Because of that we have to know. Because of that we have to remember. And because of that we have to believe that we can make a difference.
The exhibition’s point of view is pacifist and focuses on the victims of the wars and on their stories. The reasons behind the wars are left unexplored.
The exhibition consists of paintings, photographs, sculptures and video installations. The artists featured in the exhibition are Adel Abidin, Francis Alÿs, Candice Breitz, Kaisaleena Halinen, Ismo Kajander, Harro Koskinen, Heikki Marila, Anssi Pulkkinen, Hodhayfa Salih, Paavo Räbinä and Juha Welling.
Goldilocks and Other Stories - group show at Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
Installation view ‘Tampere Uprising’ / 8.9.2018 -
27.1.2019
The Goldilocks exhibition presents the Art Museum’s own collections from the perspective of storytelling; pictures and stories have always been interwoven. Some of the works may carry their own story, such as the sculpture Kultakutri (Goldilocks), by which Matti Haupt presents his own interpretation of the fairy tale princess by Topelius. Some works are narrative as such, while in others the story may be hidden and fugitive. Still, each image can be approached as a story. The exhibition encourages our natural wish to see narratives and share them in our minds. One of the guiding principles is also to put old and new into comparison, and bring out the constant change of the language of expression in visual arts.
The exhibition offers an excellent opportunity to see what has been acquired with taxpayers’ money, to be kept in storage rooms and public spaces. We meet works by old, familiar classics, but also works never seen in Tampere, such as Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s video work Kalastajat (Etydit, no 1) (Fishermen).
The top floor of the Museum has a focus on the events of 1918. On display are for example Paavo Räbinä’s work Tampereen kapina (Tampere Rebellion, 1992), a set of works named Isoisä (Grandfather), recently acquired from Juha Suonpää, and a data installation, Red and White, by Charles Sandison.
The Goldilocks exhibition is also related to an anniversary, as Tampere Art Society celebrates its 120 years of activity.
Supermarket - 2017, Stockholm Independent Art Fair 23 - 26.3.2017
Gallery Sculptor, Helsinki, Finland
Petri Eskelinen, Pauno Pohjolainen, Paavo Räbinä
‘Here and Now’ Solo show at Gallery Forum Box
3.6. - 26.6.2016 Helsinki, Finland