Äkkigalleria 5 Artist Residency for 2

Posted packaged residency material - Christian Nicolay

After almost one year of existence, Äkkigalleria is organizing its first artist residency. Christian Nicolay from Vancouver, Canada and Roy Hopiavuori from Helsinki, Finland will be arriving in Jyväskylä on the 20^th of August. The two artists, who will be meeting for the first time upon their arrival, will spend about 10 days creating Äkkigalleria’s 5^th exhibition insitu.

Nicolay is interested in sound and process based performance. Experimentation and exploration are important tools in his artistic practice, which is not bound by any one medium. Hopiavuori, on the other hand, is a painter. His expressive, monochromatic painting is calmed by stencils and symbols which remind us of our own mortality.

Although politics are not the focus of their work, both Nicolay and Hopiavuori often make art with a politically critical slant. Their creations routinely express a social unrest, and discomfort, with current political choices. Nicolay’s installations have notably referenced the imbalance of wealth and social wellbeing using and defacing real currency. While Hopiavuori’s paintings hint at an ever present societal violence and the abuse of governmental power. The United States of America, and the United Nations, among others, are alluded to, in both Nicolay’s and Hopiavuori’s practices.

The choice, of content, style and theme of this Äkkigalleria5 exhibition, has been fully given to the artists themselves. Nicolay has sent some raw artwork through international post to be incorporated into his installation, and Hopiavuori also intends to bring elements, for his final creation, from his home in Helsinki. The completed exhibition will be made for and within the Äkkigalleria space with new, unexpected and last minute creations.

The Äkkigalleria artist residency along with the Äkkigalleria5 exhibition will be held in what was previously the Jyväskylän Tanssiopisto on Cygnaeuksenkatu. The exhibition will be open to the public for four days at the beginning of September. The opening will be held on Thursday the 2nd of September. The gallery will be open from 1pm until 7pm and is free of charge.

Tervetuloa!

Äkkigalleria 5 Artist Residency

For its first Artist Residency, Äkkigalleria is inviting two visual artists from two different countries: Chrstian Nicolay from Canada and Roy Hopiavuori from Finland. The concept behind this residency is to bring two unfamiliar artists together within an appropriate space for the duration of (approximately) 2 weeks.

In this residency we are bringing two artists, who have never met, together for an intense period of creation. The artists themselves are free to create the exhibition together or next to each other as they wish. They might each come with their own pre-designed ideas but working with the unfamiliar, the particular space and time will force them to adapt spontaneously.
–Anna Ruth

The space will be opened to the public at the end of the residency for a four-day exhibition. The space for Äkkigalleria has been found and will be announced soon.

Äkkigalleria 4 - Images

Exhibition view, Tuomo Blomqvist's "Matka" in front.

Jaana Kautto's "Ydinvoima" 2010

from left to right: Hannu Korpinen's oil painting "Ydinvoman vastaan"2010, and Down Leikkonen's digital print "Ydinsuomi" 2010

Matti Reivi "Sisu" 2010, and photographs by Juho Jäppinen "Kuvia Suomesta - Tritium" 2010

Tuomo Blomqvist's "Matka" 2010

photos: Juho Jäppinen

Äkkigalleria 4 - the installation

Three artists were able to come help install the exhibition today, including Tuomo Blomqvist who only just agreed to participate in the show this very afternoon! Tomorrow is the opening and everyone is welcome to come and discuss YDINVOIMA!

Tuomo Blomqvist moving into Äkkigalleria 4 at the last minute!

moving Erika Erre's sculpture into the cellar...

Äkkigalleria 4 : Nuclear Energy

In appreciation to the Suomen Kulttuurirahaston Keski-Suomen rahasto*, Äkkigalleria is making another spontaneous appearance, this time in “Up-town” Jyväskylä. Äkkigalleria is taking a political stance for its fourth exhibition by giving a contemporary and controversial theme to local artists to play with: Nuclear Energy.

The Finnish Government is currently in the process of making a historical decision about national energy production. The Central Party of Finland is pushing towards the construction of two new, additional nuclear power plants and the Green Party is lobbying against this choice.

For this art exhibition we are not guiding the artists to make art for, or against, but rather to make new art openly inspired by the theme of Nuclear Energy. This collection of work is intended to stimulate thoughts, questions and conversation around nuclear energy, its use and its consequences.

Äkkigalleria chose eight Finnish artists (and one collective) to explore the theme of Nuclear Energy. The artists are: Tuomo Blomqvist, Erika Erre, Juho Jäppinen, the JKL-Collective, Jaana Kautto, Hannu Korpinen, Kimmo Kumela, Down Leikkonen and Matti Reivi.

Tuomo Blomqvist’s art is conceptual and poetic. His work often stems from ready-made objects which bloom into installations. Tuomo Blomqvist is interested in the small details of everyday life.

Erika Erre’s uses black humour to treat serious issues of humanity. Her work is audacious and often uses the body, or symbols of the body in dramatic settings. For Äkkigalleria Erika Erre has constructed a silicone form which includes head, arm, leg and tail. In relation to the theme of nuclear energy, this form reminds us of horror stories and menaces disaster.

Juho Jäppinen’s photographs show panoramas of the typical “Finnish Landscape”. In these serene images, Jäppinen plays with the juxtaposition of image and title: what we see and what we the text tells us. Children resident within a 5km circumference of a nuclear power plant have been proven to hold a 117% higher risk of suffering from Leukemia. All 6 images were taken within a 5km circumference of the nuclear power plant near the city of Loviisa.

JKL-collective is a group of politically involved artists. For the Äkkigalleria – Nuclear Power exhibition they are blatantly regurgitating the logo and slogan of the National Coalition Party of Finland in a literal context of the Nuclear Energy debate.

Jaana Kautto is best known for her photographs but she is also gardener. In this exhibition Jaana Kautto combines humour and beauty. Nuclear, nucleus, in a play on words she uses a potato to describe the power of nature and an alternative definition of “Ydin” or “inner-core” power.

Hannu Korpinen comes from a tradition of narrative, expressionistic painting. For this exhibition he presents an oil painting inspired by thoughts on Nuclear Power. The painting was made specifically for this Äkkigalleria exhibition.

Kimmo Kumela uses drawing to meditate. The clam repetition of the gesture in making a drawing allows time and space to study a thought and dissolve negative energy. For this exhibition, he is showing a series of drawings of atomic clouds.

Down Leikkonen is best known for his political cartoons and illustrations in the regional newspaper Keskisuomalainen. His image “Nuclear-Finland” was published in the Keskisuomalainen on the 16th of May 2010. It is not related to any specific event or decision, but is a comment on the current conversation of nuclear energy.

Matti Reivi is a sculptor. The work made for this exhibition is a hybrid of two traditional Finnish objects: a hand-plough and tar-drop candies. With these objects he is using a play on words Ydin Voima, “Inner Strength”, or Finnish Strength.

The exhibition was open from Thursday the 20^th until Sunday the 23^rd from 1-7pm, at Kauppakatu 3, Jyväskylä.

*Äkkigalleria received a 6500e grant from the Suomen Kulttuurirahaston Keski-Suomen rahasto on the 14th of May, 2010.

Äkkigalleria 3

Äkkigalleria 3 presented a selection of artists at the multimedia edge of the current art scene in Vancouver. The work references the Olympics in a critical point of view, to discuss deeper concerns within contemporary society. Here is a presentation of the artists:

Jesse Corcoran’s piece “Sad Majority” was on display at the Crying Room Gallery before and during the Vancouver Olympics. The graffiti styled drawing, representing four un-happy faces and one happy face, was order to be removed by “officials” in the months preceding the Winter Games. The controversy was however short lived and the piece was re-installed during the Olympics. This drawing directly addresses the imbalance of profit in hosting a “big money” event such as the Olympics.

Robert Gardiner looks at surveillance and use of space in his video “Survailing Airspace”. This video was first shown as part of the exhibition “A Collective Response- a group exhibition responding to the current cultural landscape in Vancouver” at Gallery Gachet. In this piece, Gardiner films an advertisement for the Olympics in an empty hallway that is under surveillance. Gardiner’s work looks at the use of space and security during the Olympic Games through a humorous lens by bringing focus to the absurd.

Rina Liddle is interested in boundaries between the private and public spaces. Liddle’s work is rooted in interactive and new media expression through which she physically puts the viewer in an active position. “We Are Watching” was first shown at the Jeffery Boone Gallery as part of the “Bright Light” project sponsored by the Vancouver City. This project has been modified, from its original presentation form, to suit the space, context and public of Äkkigalleria.

Heidi Nagtegaal’s artistic practice springs out of her background in craft and her interest in social exchange. The performance “Redirecting traffic 2010” was made at the height of the Olympics on a busy street in Downtown Vancouver. This project uses crocheted traffic pylons to help redirect the flow of traffic in a piece that amplifies an artistic temper-tantrum to a dangerous degree while remaining calm. Look at me! Look at Art! Don’t run us down! Pay attention! Nagtegaal’s video symbolically demonstrates the lack of concern and social solidarity in a busy society.

Christian Nicolay’s photograph “20$10” was part of the Artwalk stream of impromptu galleries in Gastown Vancouver during the two weeks of the Olympics. The photograph depicts the fragile hands of a street person holding five 2$ coins. The coins are split into the silver rings and the yellow centre pieces, in much the same way as public opinion was split over hosting the Olympics. Nicolay references the imbalance of wealth generated by the Olympics and hints at other possible uses of taxpayers’ money.

Nola Semczyszyn intertwines light humour with a highly conceptual practice. “A is for Abecedary” is an interactive listing of words used in the Olympics and in Vancouver/Whistler during the Winter Olympics 2010. The list also includes words that are related to the effect of this event on the City and its residents.

Danna Vajda comes from a back ground in writing and fine art which she combines in publication projects. Vajda’s piece is a script/artist book that encourages performance. The text groups athletes, artists and performers in a discussion about modes of representation, the rules of the game and authorship within the Olympics. Vajda has taken advantage of Äkkigalleria to bring her project "olympicsolympicoolympia" into physical being.

The Vancouver De[tour] Guide 2010 is an interactive internet based media-art project. The basic idea behind this project was to offer tourists another side of the “Beautiful British Columbia” Vancouver as advertised by the Olympic committee. The intention of the project was also to rise to the number 1 spot on the Google search list and thereby to compete with the glossy publicity of the Olympics for recognition. The project site for The Vancouver De[tour] is still on-line and active. Visitors of Äkkigalleria are invited to learn about Vancouver and are invited to add any information they might know about the City.
http://vancouvertourguide2010.com/

The majority of the artwork in this exhibition was discovered at various venues around the City during the two weeks of the Vancouver Olympics. Several pieces, including Danna Vajda’s “olympicsolympicoolympia”, Nola Semszyczyn’s “A is for Abecedary” and Rina Liddle’s “Working with what is left” came to life for the occasion of this Äkkigalleria exhibition.

By extracting all of these pieces from their original context (the Olympics) the content of the Winter Games is reduced to a pretext in addressing larger and more urgent social questions of security, money and happiness.

Greetings from the Olympics, Greetings from Home!

Äkkigalleria 3 - Images

Äkkigalleria3 was held from the 27th until the 31st of March 2010. This time the exhibition took place in a former electronics/computer-tech storefront of "Tietoniekka" located at Tapionkatu 4, Jyväskylä Finland. The title of this exhibition is "Greetings from the Olympics" and presented work by 8 Vancouver artists.
Äkkigalleria 3's artists are: Jesse Corcoran, Robert Gardiner, Rina Liddle, Heidi Nagtegaal, Christian Nicolay, Nola Semszynczyn, Danna Vajda and the group Vancouver [De]tour 2010.

With a focus on new media, this show presented video, photo, performance, sculptural and drawing based work. The work in this show was made with reference to the Olympics in the city of Vancouver. Several pieces were specifically made for Äkkigalleira3.

Danna Vajda's Script is seen from upstairs looking down through the stairs.


Unzyme plays at the opening in front of Rina Liddle's installation "We are Watching".


from right to left work by Christian Nicolay, Heidi Nagtegaal and Robert Gardiner.

photos: Juho Jäppinen