Ulu Braun, Eeva-Leena Eklund, Heli Hiltunen, Mikko Kallio, Elina Katara, Mauri Kuitula, Niina Lehtonen-Braun, Outi Pieski, Mirka Raito, Maiju Salmenkivi, Milla Toivanen ja Ilona Valkonen
‘People in the meadows’ is a bright and profound exhibition about people and summer. It is a group exhibition put together by Niina Lehtonen-Braun and Mirka Raito, and it takes place in Galleria Huuto Viiskulma just before Midsummer. The exhibition features the intoxicating lightness of summer, childhood memories, and the white-lit nights. Many works have something playful in them, but there are threatening and dark aspects, too: Sleeplessness, a dazzling light, the briefness and madness of summer – and momentary happiness, or death.
The artists were invited to take part in the exhibition with a poem by Ernst Jandl:
We are the people in the meadows,
Soon to be people under the meadows,
We’ll become meadows and we’ll become trees,
An endless rural vacation it is.
Ernst Jandl: *Sommerlied,* or ‘Summer Song’ *)
The dominating part of the hang-up is a communal wall of works that consists of paintings, collages, and sketches in which stories intertwine, forming a large entity. Several powerful painters take part in the exhibition, which is a visually rich experience. The paintings feature flowers and plants, and take the visitor to meadows and behind trees.
The different elements of the exhibition invite the visitor to step inside for experiences. The visitor acts, peeks through the mysterious View-Master device, and picks a bridal couple for the dizzying rotation of a music box. One of the works can be taken straight back home: The journal *Marlon* has been compiled by the artists of this exhibition as well as other ones, and it consists of works about light and darkness.
Additional info:
Mirka Raito and Niina Lehtonen-Braun
mail(at)mirkaraito.com, info(at)niinabraun.com
+358 50 403 3964
