EXHIBITIONS
The 90th Anniversary of Turku Printmakers Association: Printed Worlds
28 January – 23 April 2023
The roots of Finnish printmaking trace back to the 1890s, when Akseli Gallen-Kallela created his first woodcuts. By the 1930s, printmaking was being practised as a separate art form. Gravure printing presses were imported to Finland, and the teaching of printmaking began in Finnish art schools. The Association of Finnish Printmakers was established in Helsinki in 1931. Finland’s oldest local association of printmakers, meanwhile, can be found in Turku: in December 1932, the seven-member Grafica group of artists held, in the Turku Sanomat building, their first exhibition of Turku printmaking. The following year, Turku Printmakers Association was established. The exhibition now on display in Veturitalli marks the association’s 90th anniversary and is being curated by the artist Juha Joro, the association’s honorary chairman. The exhibition includes works by twelve members of Turku Printmakers Association: Annika Dahlsten, Markku Haanpää, Katri Ikävalko, Sirkku Ketola, Heli Kurunsaari, Miina Laine, Teija Lehto, Sara Manninen, Laura Miettinen, Tiina Vainio, Hanna Varis and Jirko Viljanen.
Teija Lehto, There was the road waiting for him, woodcut, 2022
A Real and Vivid Life – Sculptor Ben Renvall 1903–1979
Gallery Sidetrack, 28 January – 23 April 2023
The Salo-born sculptor Ben Renvall was a skilled and well-rounded expert when it comes to sculpture materials. He regarded himself primarily as a ceramicist, and was interested in different casting methods, finishes and techniques. The miniature sculptures in the exhibition ooze Renvall’s expressive and positive attitude with which he depicted life in the Finnish countryside in a “vivid and real” manner. Works celebrating the female form are also included, without forgetting Renvall’s statue of Lauri the Blacksmith, the harbinger of spring in Salo, crowned on the First of May, or the annual Jussi Film Awards.
Artwork: Ben Renvall, Boy with a green hair, 1966.