14.9.-1.10.2023

Okko Pöyliö brings two large-scale pencil drawing installations to Myymälä2 gallery – an eight-metre drawing Vartiovuori and a cartoon-like series of 23 individual drawings carrying the name Lassi.

Vartiovuori has been previously exhibited at the Takkahuone exhibition space of the Ars Nova Museum, Turku, 2016. The work was created at a time when the world was shaken by years of civil war in Syria and the bombing of Aleppo. In the work, Pöyliö reflected on what the situation might look like if it were moved to his hometown of Turku. In 2023, the war in Ukraine will have lasted more than a year and a half, and during this time these thoughts seem even more pertinent than before.

In addition to Vartiovuori, Pöyliö’s latest comic work, Lassi, will be on display. The series of works continues the Novellas series of exhibitions that began in 2014, bringing comic elements into a contemporary art context.

“Although the works were created at different times, I see thematic similarities. It is sometimes difficult to create coherent entities from the works, but these two are a good pair. They complement each other and the viewer can choose to build a coherent narrative between them.” – Okko Pöyliö

Lassi is the ninth work in the Novelleja series. The series is united by a strong desire to interact with the viewer. This is expressed through the use of eye contact and dialogue that directly addresses the viewer. Despite their cartoonish nature, the Novelleja works are designed to be performed only in the exhibition space, as a performance between the audience and the work, and have never been published in a traditional, printed form. Novelleja series have previously been exhibited widely in Finland, including at the Lahti, Hyvinkää and Rovaniemi Art Museums, and abroad, in Germany and Greece.

Previously the Novelleja – series has dealt with moral and ethical problems to which the viewer has to react and take a stand. The most recent Novelleja series Mika (2021) at Galleria Huuto (Helsinki) and Galleria Ars Libera (Kuopio) dealt with sexual harassment, depicting only the perpetrator of the harassment. The viewer’s role was to be the victim of harassment.

Lassi, the latest series of works on display at Myymälä 2, takes a step towards abstraction, challenging the viewer’s imagination and largely exploring the limits of interaction and image-making.

“In each series I have experimented with a new storytelling perspective. Lassi is the first series I made without a linear script, letting the drawings themselves lead the story. In addition to the realistic pencil drawings typical of novella works, the pencil traces seen in the work are raw and visible. I can see that the work is also about drawing itself.” – Okko Pöyliö

Okko Pöyliö graduated as a visual artist from the Turku Academy of Fine Arts in 2014 and as a Master of Arts from Aalto University in 2022. In addition to his artistic work, he works as a part-time drawing teacher at the Turku Academy of Fine Arts and is an active member of the Turku-based artists’ organisation Arte ry.

The exhibition and artistic work have been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.