Pasi Eerik Karjula´s Bad Dough

Last opening hours of Pasi Eerik Karjula´s exhibition Bad Dough in Forum Box gallery this afternoon...

I had to take his picture with his collection of small wooden pieces. He had named them as Pieces from Own Head.

It is amazing how impressive his work is. There is a hint of a Finnish solitude, smoke, fire and fairy tales.

To see more his work (and perhaps even buy some) check http://www.saatchionline.com/art/Sculpture-Wood-Story/186110/96674/view

Mari and Marila – hot names of the Finnish art scene

Mari Sunna: Untitled, 2010. Oil on canvas, 60 x 51 cm.

Today – at last - I visited two galleries in Helsinki and saw two suberb exhibitions by Finnish painters. Both are open only to the end of this month, so hurry!

Mari Sunna shows her new, amazing work in Galerie Anhava. What has happened to those doll-like, frightening faces with almost paralyzed expression in their red-rimmed eyes?

Now her females foam, burn, grow like trees or bushes, get wounded. They are still very vulnerable and their secrets are well hidden. I liked a lot the way they were painted: thinly, like putting make-up on with soft fingers and tender colours.
But am I ready to accept the truth under the beautiful surface, to honour the solitude and flames of a suffering soul?

Mari Sunna: Cage, 2011. Oil on canvas, 64 x 60 cm.

Find the details of Mari Sunna exhibition in www.anhava.com    

Totally different attitude to painting meets you in Korjaamo Galleria, where Carnegie Art Award 2012 winner Heikki Marila shows his new tactile flowers.  

Heikki Marila: Kukat XL. Oil on canvas, 200 x 250 cm. 

These modern interpretations on Henri Fantin-Latour´s flower still lifes are painted so thickly that the petals are three-dimensional, almost real. The colours are juicy, shining.

I found them very comforting. Even if they are still lifes they are not still - they are in a constant movement. All the time you find something new in them and start to wonder: are they living, are they really fresher than life? Still lifes have been meant to remind us of our mortality, but these paintings remind us how to enjoy life.

You find Heikki Marila in www.korjaamo.fi/fi/galleria

I had to take a detail photo of the same painting to show you the artist´s  almost fierce way to use colour.

New Fashion in Finland, part 4: Tiia Vanhatapio

Congratulations!

In the Finnish Elle Style Award gala 2011 on Wednesday the Best Collection Prize went to Tiia Vanhatapio and her lovely "Girls on Film".

Here are my favorites of the collection: the Opera dress and jacket, perfect for every body.

Do we need more to become a bird of paradise?

http://www.vanhatapio.fi/collections/girls-on-film-aw1112/

Fresh food from the neighbourhood

Greetings from the cabbage heaven in Vihti: Tuomas Kekki sells his cabbages at Aitokauppa.

Food is nowadays travelling a lot more than we people of this planet. And that is in most cases SOOO stupid. (Strawberries from Belgium in July when our own strawberries are at their best!!! That is true, I saw it with my own eyes last summer in the supermarkets in Middle Finland.)
Luckily we are now getting more aware of our health and the importance of good unprocessed food. And it means that we are having even in Helsinki more and more shops selling fresh “neighbourhood” food.
One of the ethical and ecological newcomers is Aitokauppa (Real Shop) which opened it´s doors officially today. From it´s fresh selection I chose immediately a hunk of clover butter, Finnish goat gruyére cheese, Chef Wotkin´s Peuragrilleri sausages and Pasta Factory`s fresh salmon raviolis for lunch, made this morning.

The designer of the Aitokauppa interior is my talented friend, lovely Mari Vatanen.
 

And this smiling fellow is the proud managing director Juha Sulkakoski.

And there you find Aitokauppa: Tehtaankatu 12, 0140 Helsinki. Open Mo-Fri from 10 am to 8 pm, on Saturdays until 6 pm. www.aitokauppa.fi