In Leena Nio’s exhibition Muukalainen (‘Stranger’), identifying with something or someone as well as being an outsider is discussed by means of trivial themes and physical experience. There are large works at the small gallery premises – far too large to be looked at from a convenient distance. This is where the materiality of the works is emphasized: Forced by the gallery premises to step closer to the works, the viewer will see the thick layers of paint and the traces of the brush. It can happen that, instead of a theme, the viewer only sees rough paint and fabric that
has been scraped forth from beneath the paint. The work cannot be perceived properly, and physical proximity turns into distance.
The dialog of moving closer and pulling away again can be seen in the themes of the works. All the paintings include an aspect that separates the viewer from the work, such as a sheet of glass, a lattice, or some other kind of a surface. Physically, the viewer is close to the paintings, but the matters portrayed by them – strangers and other fishy subjects
– are unattainable, or at least far away due to the separating surfaces. The viewer, too can become a stranger, a voyeur, while trying to see through the louvers and lattices. Additionally, the exhibition is in conversation with the city milieu outside. As the curtains are unexpectedly drawn, the gallery and its visitors are separated from the passers-by. The physical space of a visitor becomes limited – not unlike the paintings’ subjects that are only partially visible.
While they feature separating and estranging, Nio’s works offer a chance to move closer and to identify with someone or something. Human beings build various kinds of protective shields around them, but often there is a
crack or a hole through which to peek. As unexpectedly as they were drawn, the curtains can be opened. The light may reveal a hidden gaze. The reflection in the aquarium glass can reveal something that has already glided away. What the glass reflects is oftentimes more interesting than what there actually is behind the glass. What is hidden from view can be imagined by everyone individually. The exhibition encourages to look at the world observantly, through the eyes of a stranger, in order to discover the everyday surroundings – an inexhaustible treasure trove of secrets.
Text: Silvia Hosseini
The exhibition has been kindly supported by the Uusimaa Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation and Suomen taideyhdistys.
Additional information
Leena Nio
tel. +358 50 3738793
leena(at)leenanio.com,
www.leenanio.com
