Jussi Niva: With All My Senses
The exhibition launching the autumn season at Galerie Anhava is With All My Senses, in which Jussi Niva continues his painterly exploration of the experience of space, volume and material. In a departure from his earlier works, Niva’s new paintings are more freely situated in the space. Instead of conforming to the typical frontality of painting, these works are variously free-standing or lean or rest against each other, or appear to be pulling slightly away from the wall.
While the works retain the archetypal rectangular shape of the canvas, the intersections and undulating turns of the painted surfaces suggest a two-sided, curved form. The works are like fragments of a larger spherical surface, which, depending on the angle of view, may appear spatially closing or opening. As the viewer moves through the space, the works offer insights into understanding the positive and negative form of the painted surface, with some of the canvases painted on both sides.
Although they are devoid of imagery, the works are actively involved in the temporal event of viewing. Like traditional paintings, these works also project a space, but three-dimensionally and in multiple directions. Hence they are not defined exclusively by the surface but also by the viewer's changing position, distances and the surrounding space. In their immateriality, they carry as much meaning as material.
About the artist:
Jussi Niva (b. 1966) has been working on spatial painting installations that reflect on viewing and interpretation since 1989. His work is represented in numerous major public collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Aine Art Museum, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Malmö Art Museum, and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Collection, as well as many private collections. He participated in the 1992 Kassel Documenta and represented Finland at the Venice Biennale in 1993.
Fredrikinkatu 43, 00120 HelsinkiFree entrance