Opening: December 7, 2024, Narva.
Exhibition period: December 7, 2024 – February 2, 2025.
Possible Worlds is a joint exhibition by Jaakko Autio and Mika Vesalahti.
Jaakko Autio
The core of Autio’s work is radical empathy. He seeks to create spaces where people can reconnect with their own innocence and vitality — a fundamental experience that needs to be awakened from time to time.
At this exhibition, Autio presents a sound work OrigiNation (2022), 20-channel sound installation where singers from Narva and Finland improvise a new interpretation of “Mu Isamaa/Maamme Laulu”. The exhibition also includes a new generative media installation Nimitta, and a multi-dimensional sculpture placed at the center of the exhibition serves as a bridge between two different realities. The artwork illustrates how truth can shift depending on the perspective. The image of one world can contain multiple perspectives and this leads to the title “Possible Worlds”. This exhibition brings into focus the viewer and his/her worldview.
Jaakko Autio (b. 1981) is a Finnish sound artist whose works have been presented in both solo and group exhibitions and festivals in Finland and abroad. His soundscapes and installations aim to enhance empathy and dissolve invisible boundaries, creating space for different stories and perspectives. Autio’s work explores themes of belonging, geopolitical contexts, and radical empathy, aiming to foster mutual understanding and peace.
www.jaakkoautio.com / https://www.instagram.com/jaakkoautio/
Mika VesalahtiPainter Mika Vesalahti contributes to the exhibition with pieces from his series Tritonus (2024) and Machine of the Gods of Hell (2020). His work explores possible worlds through the interaction between painting and music, creating a dialogue with the complexities of existence.
These paintings by Mika Vesalahti talk about the chaos, violence and state of war of our times. We live under the pressure of violent forces and the idealistic view on the arts has been shattered. The artist questions whether painting can address the violence of the world, reconcile contradictions, release the suppressed, and can it therefore become a healing process.
Mika Vesalahti (b. 1967, Helsinki) graduated as a painter from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. He works with series of paintings, including the monumental HellGod´sMachine I–VII (2017–20). He works internationally, both in exhibitions and residencies. Vesalahti also writes and publishes art essays. He lives and works in Helsinki and Viljandi, Estonia.
https://mikavesalahti.voog.com/ https://finnishpainters.fi/painter/finnish-painter-mika-vesalahti/
A warm thank you to TAIKE (Arts Promotion Centre Finland) for supporting the artistic work.
