Tongue-in-cheek art in Stockholm

The giant bronze sculpture by Swedish artist Dan Wolgers got at last a home in front of the new photography museum in Stockholm. Stockholm Konst and Ports of Stockholm decided to place it outside of Fotografiska instead of central Stadsgården. The name of the sculpture is Torso, and it is said to represent in true Dadaistic spirit the artist´s self-portrait and a woman’s womb. Well, the more you know about Dan Wolgers and his work, the more interesting it gets. His imagination, the provocative productivity and the selling power reminds me somehow of – of – of course of our dear Jani Leinonen...

Catwalk beauties

If you want to see something breathtakingly beautiful go to Perniö where Kaija Rosma is exhibiting her new collection of small fashionable sculptures. Each of those white ladies is a wonder of effortless grace and elegance. If you are quick, you might even buy one – there are still some left!
The exhibition is open until 15.8. from Thursday to Sunday at 12-18. Address is Perniön taidetalo Pyynpivo, Perniöntie 1841.

Veijo Rönkkönen´s weird friends

A visit to Parikkalan patsaspuisto in eastern Finland is an experience you will never forget. You either love it or hate it, a tepid in-between feeling is simply not possible. Veijo Rönkkönen, a self-taught artist, made in his lifetime about 500 concrete sculptures, some of them grinning with real dentures, and placed them around his cottage in Parikkala. They are an amazing bunch of people, plants and animals, full of humour and deep respect for life. The statues have never been exhibited nor did want to travel. If you want to see this famous garden, go there quickly. The artist died in March, and nobody seems ready to keep his inheritance alive. The plants are already almost swallowing the smallest statues...
Rönkkösen patsaspuisto, Kuutostie 611, Koitsanlahti, Parikkala.

Photos © Paula Hietaranta

Annie Got Her Gun

Annie Leibovitz: Brother Philip and My Father,1988.

The modern Annie sharpshooter is of course Annie Leibovitz who has now a big exhibition A Photographer's Life 1990–2005 in the new Fotografiska museum in Stockholm. Most of her celebrity portraits are so well-known and polished that they seem a little bit dull. Her personal work – family, friends, landscapes - is the jewel of this exhibition. The most impressive picture was the prolonged one of dead Susan Sontag dressed in a fashionable gown she was buried in. It reminded me of the sarcophagi we see in old churches, a monument to honour life and death.
The last day to see Annie´s pictures in Fotografiska, Stadsgårdshamnen 22, quite close to the Viking Line boat terminal, is Sunday 12th September.

One of the pleasures

of a warm summer evening is leaving Helsinki by ship. Strolling on the deck, looking at the horizon, eating a watermelon slice, taking pictures, smoking a cigarette, enjoyig the lovely breeze...

Cold rain, sweet pain, rocky roads and happy moments!

Photo © Paula Hietaranta

This smiling couple dit it! Two years ago Kaisa and Christoffer Leka bicycled all way through Europe from Porvoo to Nice, and now we couch potatoes can read how all the thousands of kilometres went both in reality and in mind, in rain and shine. The brand new Tour d´Europe - The Yoga of Road Cycling is a lovely comic book, hilariously funny and deeply touching at the same time. ”When Leka takes off his shoes, Kaisa takes off her feet.”
Buy the book at http://www.pitkamies.net/ or directly from Kaisa kaisa@kaisaleka.net. It costs 20 euros + mailing 5 euros.
After reading this book you are surely hungry for more. Only wait - soon Kaisa and Leka are going to bicycle round Iceland. Let´s hope the volcanoes understand stay silent...

Even a flower knows how to benefit from the sun

Photo © Paula Hietaranta 

Yesterday afternoon American professor Barbara L. Fredrickson, the author of the book Positivity, was giving a lecture on the power of positive emotions at Aalto University in Otaniemi.
Positivity surely is something we Finns need desperately and the event showed to be so attractive that the organizers had to get a bigger auditorium than planned.
In one hour we got quite many lab-tested tools how to transform our life to an emotionally better state for example by Loving Kindness meditation. The miracle does not happen overnight but in 6-8 weeks you should see some results.
”Increase your daily diet of positive emotions and you will become a better version of yourself”, Barbara says. Feel free to score how you are doing by taking a daily test on her website www.positivityratio.com for two weeks!