Helsinki Contemporary’s presentation for Art Brussels consists of an ensemble of works by Leena Nio (FIN), Michael Johansson (SWE) and Emma Sarpaniemi (FIN). The three artists, all from different backgrounds and generations, utilise everyday objects in their work in their own ways. By depicting and transforming household items, clothing, or everyday ephemera, the artists tap into universal themes of design, aesthetics, identity and gender, to mention a few.
Leena Nio’s intricate paintings focus on small details that can contain a whole life: a favorite sweater coming undone or an untamed strand of hair. The act of layering and framing create both material and spatial illusions in the pictorial space. Nio’s tightly cropped portraits often do not feature the faces of her models, but tell their story through colour, sensation, layering and the exploration of materials.
Michael Johansson is a sculptor and installation artist who assembles his often site-specific works from found objects. By arranging his materials – be it tires, office supplies, home appliances or glass vases – into new constellations by colour and form, he challenges our pre-existing perspectives of function and the aesthetics of space.
For Emma Sarpaniemi, colours, found objects and pieces of clothing and accessories often work as the starting points of her performative self-portraits. Through photography, she explores womanhood and challenges definitions of femininity. The shutter release cable, often clearly visible in her photos, serves as a symbol of the subject being in control of their own image. The characters she depicts in her work contain parts of the artist’s own identity and combine reality with the imagined.
Inquiries:
Katja Räisänen
Sales Director
+358 50 464 2911
katja.raisanen@helsinkicontemporary.com