Malmitalo Gallery presents the exhibition Vessels of Color by Henri Hagman and Päivi Kallio 1 June –29 July, 2023.
Welcome to the exhibition opening on Wednesday, 31 May 6–8 pm!
Image from left to right: Henri Hagman – Painting of the viewer, oil, acrylic and epoxy on canvas (2021) and Päivi Kallio – Warm sky, acrylic on hardboard (2022)
It helps both the completion of the painting and the viewing of it if the colours of the painting are built around something other than the colours themselves. These pillars of colour can be, for example, a direct colour perception, a figurative motif and its emotional story, a dynamic composition or an effort to limit the colour scheme according to some predefined harmony. The painting can anchor its colours to any one of these. They are kind of vessels of colour in a painting. One is geometric and slightly translucent, the other a reed resembling a bird’s nest. A third vessel can be a boiling pot on the stove, under which something is burning.
The viewer’s viewing can also be supported by other thought games. For example, the fact that the viewer positions themself in such a way that it is now a painting that is looking at the viewer. The painting flows in through the viewer’s eyes and thus enters the areas of other senses as well. Colours and their relationships start sounding like music, feeling like a touch. They smell and taste and are cold or hot.
The exhibition features a selection of paintings that relate to colours in different ways. For each painting, there is a suggestion about a way to approach it. The viewer can try and see for themself whether these suggestions change the viewing experience.
This perspective on colours in painting is based on Henri Hagman’s book ”To the Peak of the Color Painting – 18 Steps to Purer Vision”, which was published in the spring of 2023. Hagman is a painter living in Rovaniemi, who is preparing a dissertation for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Lapland.
Päivi Kallio works with painting, photography and social art. Her paintings are visual explorations that arise from seeking to be present with oneself and with the creative work. The paintings vary from portraits to figurative and abstract. All her works are based on a strong colour conception.
The artistic work has been supported by Lapland Regional Fund and Arts Promotion Centre Finland.