6 Artist-friends
October 11th, 2013 – January 12th, 2014
Olli Marttila invited six of his artist friends to show their work in the museum’s lower gallery. All artists have the Orivesi College of Arts as their common denominator. According to Marttila, he has learned at least as much from these friends as they have from him.
Aaron Hiltunen (born in Salmi, Tulema, 1926) lives and works in Turku.
- I use all types of painting techniques such as pigment and glue, felt-tipped markers, pastels, watercolours, acrylic, oil as well as mixed media. I also have a large collection of sketches and drawings. I still plan on making new acrylic paintings, except for stretching the canvases etc., and if the heavens grant me enough time. My work was most recently shown this fall in the Turku Artist Association’s “Permission to trespass” event. Here, I am showing my pieces The Rejector of War I and II which I was inspired to make after reading Erno Paasilinna’s book Courage: The life and execution of Arndt Pekurinen, which tells of Arndt Pekurinen and his rejection of all violence and his unbelievable courage. The Gypsies’ Motherland III is part of a different series that talks about Gypsies who are not suppressed and do not suppress others.
Jonimatti Joutsijärvi (born in Salla, 1984) lives and works at Rauhanlinna in Kaarina.
- I am a poet, an essayist, a performance artist and a theologian who is currently writing several fictive scripts. Writing, song, and physical observation, are the core of my artistic process. For this exhibition I made a series of felt-tipped pen drawings, which are both wordless poems and written imagery.
Teemu Mäenpää (born in Kotka, 1977) lives and works in Tampere.
- Primarily paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings and music as well as motorcycles and bicycles… I am a full-time artist and musician. For this exhibition I made paintings. In my paintings there is almost always some character and to me it seems like I am making portraits of beings from a land somewhere between this world and another.
Antti Ruuhela (born in Seinäjoki, 1980), lives and works in Kerava.
Antti Ruuhela is a painter whose production includes a lot of experimental processes within the field of painting. The paintings made for this exhibition are new ones. These paintings were made at the Porvoo Artists’ House where Ruuhela’s four-year artist residency just ended.
Joonas Salusjärvi (born in Espoo, 1976) works primarily in the Vaasa archipelago and currently lives in Jyväskylä.
In this exhibition Salusjärvi shows the performance piece Astrid and the Chaperones. The Chaperones are composed of experts from different professional fields and this group of experts is adjusted to suit each situation. Astrid visited the Jyväskylä in 2011 for the Arvid Järnefelt Theatre performance What do you try to do for a living? This year, during this visit, you can also meet Astrid and the Chaperones outside of the museum.
Jaakko Tornberg (born in Kuusamo, 1961) lives and works in Helsinki.
- The world is full of junk, garbage and disposable things. What would happen if I glued it all back together again? I think, I mess around, try to be cleaver, I play and what not – from an artistic perspective. For subject matter, I chose the easiest possible thing: the human figure, just as sculptors have done for thousands of years. Because I have never respected traditional artistic methods, I just let the work lead me where it will. When I was in art school, one of my teachers said that fine art and humour couldn’t mix. I was so inspired by this concept that I decided to dedicate my life to abolishing this statement. In this exhibition part of the installation Workers is shown. The Robots were made between the years 2006–2013.