Exhibition review In Leena Luostarinen’s exhibition, the huge size and nuance of the paintings stop, but the hanging is downright insane – and the prices are dizzying.

Culture|Exhibition review

Painting

Leena Luostarinen 6.2. until Galerie Forsblom (Yrjönkatu 22). Open Tue – Fri 11–18, Sat – Sun 12–16.

Leena Luostarinen (1949–2013) exhibition is a case in point, although the paintings on display are not gems of his production and the gallery space is too small to help with huge works.

Luostarinen is one of Finland’s most significant contemporary artists – and with this exhibition also the most expensive. The prices of the largest works range from 90,000 euros.

The tableware compiled in Galerie Forsblom dates from the 1980s to the early 2000s, although some of the paintings are timeless. Instead of the iconic and much-loved cat animals, the works in the exhibition repeat Nefertiti, plant themes and reptiles.

The huge size and nuance of the paintings stop. Some of the works are forced by the space to look up close, but even then the mood makes you feel immersed in shades and brushstrokes.

The narrowest the space is at the end, on which are hung three really large and colorful paintings, Nefertiti scents in the garden, Blue Miegy (1990s) and Nefertiti and a Chinese doll. In a small space, bright yellow, blue, and red literally fall down from the walls, attacking the color one at a time and through it. While the hanging is actually insane, the avalanche of colors is dizzying and enjoyable. When it recovers, the details come to the fore.

In the book Nefertiti and a Chinese doll in the midst of the blazing shades of red stand out a doll lying on her side and a standing queen of Egypt, Nefertitin, outline. Nefertti’s recognizable character disintegrates and repeats in the painting as floating, shadow-like busts and feet.

Monastic drew on his works on Mediterranean and Asian cultures. The references may not be conveyed to this day very fresh, but the undeniable skill of the monastery and the extent of the register are pushed through from one work to another.

Brightness of the day I (Early 1990s) is an ethereal airy, powdery and swirling mist. Smaller Rock Bound (1987) exudes thick, three-dimensional layers of paint. Reptiles painted with frantic strokes glow in their gemstone shades. Winter Garden (1993) exudes the full darkness of the night, where the paint has fallen in places like itself as snow-white dots and flowing shapes on the canvas.

Leena Luostarinen: Winter Garden, 1993, oil on canvas. Size: 300 x 390 cm. Picture: Angel Gil