Okko Pöyliö
Mika
28.5.-20.6.2021
The artist is present: Fri 28 May, Sat 19 and Sun 20 June at 12-5pm.
Okko Pöyliö’s Mika (2021) invites viewers to join a usual situation, involving a discussion with an unknown man. Soon the discussion turns strange.
Mika is a continuation of the Novelleja exhibition series that started in 2014. Combining contemporary art with comics, the works create situations in which the viewer becomes part of what happens in the story. The connection is established by directly addressing the viewer as well as through eye contact. Consisting of 29 individual pencil drawings, Mika is Pöyliö’s largest series of works so far.
They question the traditional set-up of a viewer and a work. The look becomes politicized and the viewer can no longer be a passive bystander, without taking a stand. They become the object of looking and desire. By objectifying the viewer, the works question the viewer’s self-determination and forces one to define their personal boundaries. Were these boundaries crossed, at what point did it happen and whose eyes have the power?
“It is difficult to comprehensively explain how the ideas for works develop. Especially with this work, the path has been complex. One turning point was reading the results of a Yle survey, in which different age groups defined what kind of behavior they see as harassment. Based on this, the work took a form in which the situation progresses, little by little, towards more serious harassment, and each viewer can personally determine at what point the behavior crosses their boundaries,” Pöyliö describes the process.
According to the Gender Equality Barometer published in 2017, 39 percent of women and 17 percent of men had faced sexual harassment. Today the figures are presumably higher, as the climate of discussions has changed significantly. However, it is safe to say that we all know someone who has been sexually harassed. Therefore, we also know someone who has sexually harassed another person.
The work approaches sexual harassment by only portraying the perpetrator. The target of this behavior could be anyone. If you are unable to make yourself the target of the events in the work, you can imagine someone else there, a friend, a co-worker or a family member. In his works, Pöyliö examines both individual crises and society’s sore points and he believes that it is easier to approach difficult topics through drawings. By giving moral questions a face, his works offer methods for one to examine and redefine their own values.
Okko Pöyliö earned his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Turku Arts Academy in 2014. His Novelleja works have previously been on display at the Lahti, Hyvinkää and Rovaniemi Art Museums as well as abroad in Germany and Greece.
The exhibition and the artist’s work have been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Finnish Art Society.
Okko Pöyliö
okko.poylio(a)gmail.com
040 823 8811
