Harriina Räinä
At the Oyster Bed
Maria Valkeavuolle
Fuuga / Fugue
6.–28.1.2024
Open
Tue-Fri 13–18
Sat-Sun 12-17
Welcome to the opening party on Friday 5th of Janyary from 5 pm to 7 pm
Harriina Räinä (c)
Harriina Räinä - At the Oyster Bed
At the Oyster Bed is Harriina Räinä's exhibition, which uses shells of feral Pacific oysters as a starting point. The exhibition is part of a wider project called Volatile Shells, which examines the agency of oysters as well as the form and substance of their shells.
Oysters are a group of salt-water bivalves that stick to one location for their entire lives. When growing freely, they form reefs, which are rich ecosystems that prevent erosion, clean seawater and provide habitats for numerous other species. The English word oyster bed means a place at the bottom of the sea where oysters grow or are cultivated.
The exhibition at Oksasenkatu 11 consists of experimental photography-based printmaking, oyster shells, and large sheets of paper treated with oyster shell matter and sea salt. The shells of Pacific oysters, which have been used to make the artworks, were collected from the vicinity of oyster farms in Brittany, France, and along the western coast of Sweden, where the Pacific oyster thrives as an invasive species.
Harriina Räinä (b. 1989, in Kemi) is a visual artist, who works on Harakka Island in Helsinki. Räinä's artistic interests lie in topics such as corporeality, the dynamics in the experience of observing, and the animal question, i.e., humans’ relationship with and attitudes towards other animals. She completed her Master's in Fine Arts at the University of the Arts, Helsinki, in 2019. The Volatile Shells project has previously included a working period and an open studio event at the Cité des Arts residency in Paris, France, in 2022 and exhibitions at Titanik gallery in Turku and at Hippolyte Studio in Helsinki in 2023.
The artist's work has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
Maria Valkeavuolle (c)
Maria Valkeavuolle - Fuuga / Fugue
Maria Valkeavuolle’s exhibition Fuuga / Fugue serves a dense concoction of human bewilderment with a hint of reality conducted by algorithms. Clumpy pulp paintings, the beautiful, ugly, and irritating soundscape of the sound installation combined with the pillow-like work stretched in the air are all probing the mental landscape of the modern human. Valkeavuolle aims to create a space for uncertainty, for the realization of one’s limitations and for the chance to reform one’s thinking. While everything is speeding up and the world seems to be turning more horrid year after year, all this modern human would like to do is to crawl up in something soft every now and then, perhaps a hug.
Maria Valkeavuolle is a multidisciplinary artist working in the fields of moving image, sound art and text. Her practice is also influenced by the processes of e.g. fiber art, papermaking and photography. Endless curiosity and the need to understand the surrounding world and its phenomena is a driving force for Valkeavuolle.
The exhibition has been supported by Uusimaa Regional Fund, Héléne ja Walter Grönqvist’s Foundation, Pro Av Saarikko
Accessibility information: The gallery space is not wheelchair accessible. From the street level, there are four steps of stairs down to the ground level of the gallery. The basement space of the gallery has a narrow spiral staircase. The gallery has a gender-neutral toilet. There is no designated quiet space. There are no strong fragrances in the space.