Jukka Korkeila
Sinä kuljet kohti valoa, joka odottaa elämäsi lopussa

05.08. - 04.09.2022

You pass towards the light that awaits at the end of your life (Du gehst dem Licht entgegen, das dich gegen Ende deines Lebens erwartet)

Helsinki Contemporary’s autumn season begins with Jukka Korkeila’s topical solo exhibition, You pass towards the light that awaits at the end of your life. The exhibition, linked with another currently on display at the Finnish Institute in Germany on Berlin’s Friedrichstraße, gathers ideas from the midst of global crises: the Covid-19 pandemic and war have raised questions about life, its finiteness, and gratitude for the joys of everyday moments. The exhibition space will be filled with a selected collection of works created during the last few years, now presented for the first time in Finland – in Korkeila’s fifth solo exhibition at the gallery.

In his art, Jukka Korkeila draws inspiration from controversial social issues. Sexual minorities (LGBTIQA+), a narrow definition of masculinity, limited beauty standards, religion, and spirituality are recurrent themes in his works. These grotesque paintings are brimming with baroque-style pomposity, abundance, and speed yet executed humorously and gently. Korkeila’s works portray a mix of supreme leaders, ample nude bodies, genitals, and Frau Kraft, an artistic figure embodied by Korkeila’s partner, German actor Markus Karger. The ambiguous and thought-provoking works suggest a peaceful and loving compromise – a dialogue between opposite perspectives. 

In the exhibition, the artist’s gaze is turned – triggered by global emergencies – towards the here and now and the things that we meet at the end of our lives. The exhibition’s name, You pass towards the light that awaits at the end of your life, refers to a life inevitably drawing to a close, day by day. We are all unavoidably walking towards death, every day approaching our endpoint. According to Korkeila, this makes every moment worth celebrating – we must be happy to be still here and alive.

“The exhibition is composed of various elements, each forming part of the whole. The exhibition becomes accessible when we view one work of art at a time. After seeing the exhibition, it will become an experience in our minds. Art always happens between people, the work of art staying in that space between them, but the artwork or exhibition experience always remains personal, and those experiences can never be compared with each other. We are all different, and so are our experiences of the same events. I invite you to differentiate in the exhibition’s sameness.” – Jukka Korkeila

Jukka Korkeila (b. 1968, Hämeenlinna) is one of Finland’s foremost painters; his works have been on display in various museums and galleries around the world. He lives and works in three cities: Berlin, Glauburg-Stockheim, and Helsinki. Korkeila has participated in exhibitions around Europe, and all the main Nordic collections include his works. Korkeila has had solo exhibitions at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, and the Nordic Watercolour Museum in Skärhamn, Sweden. In 2014–2015, Korkeila participated in the 4th Bienal del Fin del Mundo in Mar del Plata, Argentina. In 2017–2018, he took part in the extensive retrospective Pleasure exhibition at the Helsinki Art Museum, HAM, and the Serlachius Museum in Mänttä. In 2018, Korkeila was included in the Sanguine/Bloedrood exhibition, curated by Luc Tuymans, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA) in Belgium. In 2019, Korkeila was awarded the Finnish State Prize for the Visual Arts. Together with Markus Karger, Korkeila curated the extensive international In Situ exhibition in Hirzenhain and Gedern, near Frankfurt am Main. In 2022, Korkeila’s works will be presented in the All of Finland weeps – Tears of sorrow, joy and healing exhibition at the Finnish Institute in Germany until November; in the Näyttämö exhibition, organised by Ars-Häme ry and curated by Aino Kannisto and Salla Laurinolli, in Hämeenlinna’s Lääninhallituksen talo, completed in 1834 and designed by C. L. Engel, until the end of August; and in the Biennale Le Latitudini dell’Arte V ed. Sweden and Italy exhibition, curated by Paul Thomassen, in the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, Italy, until the beginning of September.

Thank you to Markus Karger, as well as to The Arts Promotion Centre Finland and The Finnish Cultural Foundation for supporting the artist’s work.