22.5.–14.6.2026

The titular work of Mikko Ängeslevä’s exhibition, Pidot / Feast, is a painting of people spending time together in small groups. The scene could belong to almost any decade from the 1960s onward. At its centre is a man in a blue suit who appears to breathe, blow, or kiss painting itself from a table that transforms into a metaphor for the various movements and “isms” of visual art. A simply painted bearded male figure observes the situation intently, resembling every male painter across the decades.

The work condenses several of Ängeslevä’s recurring themes in a way that invites it to be seen as the key piece of the exhibition. Through it, the viewer begins to search for and discover references in the other paintings to different styles and techniques within the history of painting. Ängeslevä depicts materials with near photorealistic precision. He reduces forms into planes of colour and creates surfaces where abstract brushwork takes the leading role. His paintings contain echoes of Latin American political murals, the formal experiments of early modernists, and the playfulness of pop art. The intense palette is based on high-quality oil paints that Ängeslevä makes himself by grinding pigments with linseed oil. Altogether, the weave of styles and stylistic references is so rich that it resists easy definition in words.

Still, one clear dichotomy emerges throughout the exhibition. In most of the works, the subject is either encounter or isolation. Being left alone appears almost as an existential experience. A person is swallowed by a sofa, hides in a bathtub, or covers their face with a glass. Protection and fear are presented as ordinary parts of human existence. Ängeslevä portrays vulnerability without making his figures seem weak. He is humane toward his subjects, yet never sentimental. His ability to depict the human being specifically as a psychological presence is rare in contemporary painting. This is particularly evident in the portrait-like character studies. They feel somehow familiar — we remember them — yet their counterparts in reality remain elusive.

Veikko Halmetoja, gallerist

Mikko Ängeslevä (b. 1982) graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2024 and previously studied at Kankaanpää Art School. His works are included, among others, in the collection of the Päivi and Paavo Lipponen Foundation, which forms part of the Finnish National Gallery collection at Kiasma.

The exhibition has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

www.ngeslev.com

Meet the artist
Mikko Ängeslevä will be present at his exhibition on Sunday, June 7, from 2–4 PM.