Greetings from the family
Petri Ala-Maunus, Terhi Heino, Tero Juuti, Heta Kuchka, Sami Lukkarinen, Maiju Salmenkivi, Eliisa Sorvali, Minna Suoniemi, Aleksi Tolonen and Thomas Westphal
Galleria Huuto, Jätkäsaari 1
3.8.–18.8.2013
Greetings from the family is the group’s third exhibition together. The group of artists first got together in 2005 for the Clues to Human Behaviour exhibition held at Huuto Viiskulma. The exhibition explored human behavior from various perspectives. The idea was to continue working together and in 2009 the group held an exhibition called Planet Fun Fun at the Kerava Art Museum in the Klondyke House. The name of the exhibition referred to the history of the building and the artists explored the themes of games and play. The group also invited some new artists to take part in the Planet Fun Fun exhibition and their contributions added to the already versatile artworks.
Now the Greetings from the family exhibition brings the Planet Fun Fun group to Huuto Jätkäsaari. The theme of the exhibition, family, is approached from different perspectives through each artist’s works. The artists focus on their own family, child, relationship, mother and father, but they also explore the theme at a general level. Everyone has a family – for better or worse. The exhibition includes installations, videos, sculptures and paintings.
Welcome – with or without your family!
Petri Ala-Maunus (b. 1970) works extensively in the field of contemporary painting and challenges the traditional themes from the perspective of modern everyday life. He has, for example, painted apocalyptic paradise landscapes, sunsets on the trash he has picked up on the streets and altered album covers and other popular culture images by changing their original context.
Terhi Heino‘s (b. 1970, Oulu) artworks are based on everyday materials. They are sculptures and installations made from natural materials, bio waste or biodegradable materials.
Tero Juuti‘s (b. 1974, Lappeenranta) works are a combination of visual arts and graphic design. His exhibition piece is a prototype of a game that deals with parenthood through stereotypes.
Sami Lukkarinen (b. 1976, Jyväskylä) creates his paintings using oil paints. For this exhibition he has painted a series of five paintings of his son Valtti’s first year as well as a family portrait consisting of three painted pixels.
Maiju Salmenkivi (b. 1972, Espoo) creates her paintings on canvas and board materials using acrylic and oil paints. Sometimes she feels like working with different materials and using different perspectives. For the Greetings from the family exhibition she is planning to create an artwork made from old items that lay forgotten in her parents’ basement.
Eliisa Sorvali‘s (b. 1977, Espoo) series of works is based on the idea of depicting the changes and occurrences that life with children brings along. She works with three-dimensional collages and paintings.
Minna Suoniemi’s (b. 1972, Tampere) videos depict humans and human emotions and errors. Her works explore the image of women, power relationships, family and motherhood through a visually minimalistic but content-wise multilayered style of expression.
Aleksi Tolonen (b. 1974, Espoo) creates paintings and installations. His work deals with children and idyllic family life through a provocative yet humorous approach. He has created a polyurethane installation where mutated babies fly on rainbows from a cloud hanging in the gallery space.
