Aki Turunen: The Dragon Tamer

Aki Turunen made his debut in a Helsinki Contemporary joint exhibition in October 2020. Now it is time for his first solo show, The Dragon Tamer. ⁣

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The initial impulse for the exhibition came on ground very dear to the artist, Italy, on a visit to Siena Cathedral’s Piccolomini Library. What particularly stayed in mind were an early music manuscript hand-written on parchment and the hand-painted floor tiles. Turunen is a profoundly material-conscious artist. His painting process starts from curiosity and from a need that wells up from within. ⁣

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The Dragon Tamer exhibition is based on the pictorial tradition of medieval manuscripts and draws from the image world of Byzantium. Eight tempera paintings on wood form the backbone of the exhibition. Many of the works are like stills from a fairytale. Turunen’s works raise the issue of the power relation between human and animal – did humans tame this reptilian creature or was it vice versa.⁣

Helsinki Contemporary

4.-27.3.2022 Tue-Fri 12.00-18.00, Sat-Sun 12.00-16.00

Free entry