2010/09/26

Finlandia

The gallery/La galerie/Galleriet GunGallery

Visiting Stockholm, my ambition was to discover the new photographic, much talked about, exhibition space Fotografiska. But finally a visit to the art bookstore Konst-ig and some overheard conversation between the staff and a client made me more curious about a small gallery specialised in photography: GunGallery.
The gallery, that was founded in 2008, focuses on international and national contemporary photography and represents both well-established names and young emerging artists.
At the moment there's a show with the Finnish artist Jouko Lehtola, that recently passed away, called Finlandia. The work is violent and beautiful, portraying young people in a sort of Larry Clarkish way, but in a unique visual style and a finnish environment.
The exhibition had not yet opened when I saw it, so a big thank you to the kind owner who let me have a look around the gallery. Until October 17, 2010

Provinssi, 1995

En voyage à Stockholm, mon ambition était de découvrir la nouvelle espace photographique dont tout le monde parle, Fotografiska. Mais finalement une visite à la librairie d'art, Konst-ig et un bout de conversation entendu entre la vendeuse et un client, m'a donné plutôt envie d'aller dans une petite galerie spécialisée dans la photo : GunGallery.
La galerie, ouvert en 2008, focalise sur la photographie contemporaine internationale et nationale et représente à la fois des noms très connus et de jeunes artistes qui montent.
En ce moment, on expose l'artiste finlandais Jouko Lehtola, récemment décédé, et son travail Finlandia. Son œuvre est violente et pleine de beauté. Ce sont des portraits des jeunes gens dans un esprit proche de Larry Clark, mais dans un style visuel bien à lui et un environnement typiquement finlandais.
L'exposition n'ayant pas ouvert quand je suis passée, je remercie chaleureusement la propriétaire qui m'a gentiment laissée y jeter un œil. Jusq'au 17 Octobre, 2010 


Tommi, 1999

På besök i Stockholm, var det mitt uppsåt att utforska det omtalade, nyöppnade fotocentret Fotografiska. Men efter en titt i konstbokhandeln Konst-ig, och lite tjuvlyssnande på en diskussion mellan försäljare och kund, kände jag mig mer nyfiken på ett litet galleri specialiserat på foto: GunGallery.
Galleriet, som grundades 2008, fokuserar på internationell och inhemsk nutida fotografi och representerar både välkända namn och nya, talanger på uppåtgående.
Just nu kan man se utställningen Finlandia, av den finländske fotokonstnären Jouko Lehtola, som nyligen gick bort. Hans verk är våldsamma och vackra, dokumentära porträtt av unga människor som ibland påminner mig om innehållet i Larry Clarks bilder, men med en unik stil och en stark finländsk förankring.
Utställningen  hade inte officiellt öppnat när jag var där, så jag vill tacka den vänliga ägaren som lät mig ta en titt runt galleriet. T.o.m. 17 oktober 2010

5 commentaires:

  1. Oh, very sad to read about the photographer Jouko Lehtola -- he was so young! I did not know of him before reading your post, so I checked out his work via the link you put in, and he has some captivating work. Looks like the world lost a very talented artist. :(

    I smiled at the photo up there of the girl who looks like Pippi, though. :) Reminded me of those cute movies of her stories from the 1970s! (The one with Inger Nilsson. I was on Wikipedia trying to figure out if it was a TV show or movie, but got the answer: "The Swedish series was re-edited as two dubbed feature films for distribution in the United States. They became weekend television staples in several cities in America throughout the 1970s and 1980s." The answer is "Both." :) I used to love watching those shows!)

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  2. P.S. Another link click on Wikipedia with a fact I did not know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inger_Nilsson

    Her real first name is Karin. :D

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  3. Thanks for your comment, Karin. Always a pleasure to find you here!
    Indeed a big loss for the art world, I discovered this artist at the GunGallery and got immediately captivated by his work.
    I didn't know one of Inger Nilssons first names was Karin. In fact in Sweden you can have several first names, and it's not necessarily the first one of them that is your first "first name". If you understand what I'm trying to say.

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  4. "it's not necessarily the first one of them that is your first "first name". If you understand what I'm trying to say"

    I think I do. :) I would love to have more than just two names. First names, that is. I've already been married and divorced twice. I don't know that I need any more last names, lol.

    "...got immediately captivated by his work"

    That's just the adjective -- captivating. He could really capture a person's spirit and personality it seems. His portraits are amazing.

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  5. In fact in Swedish we have the words "förnamn" och "tilltalsnamn". The first one means first name and you can have several. The other one means something like "name to be called" and you can have just one. Sometimes it's underlined when typed so that you know how to call that person.

    For a portrait, a first name gives you a hint on how to connect with the photographed person, no? Even if an strong image works as well without, it always somehow makes me feel more on a "personal level" with the man or woman I'm looking at.

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