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30/11/2011

Juhana Blomstedt

Galerie Anhava, Helsinki

Juhana Blomstedt (20 December 1937 – 4 August 2010) held his first solo exhibition in 1967 at the Galerie du Haut Pavé in Paris. Galerie Artek in Helsinki was the venue for Blomstedt's first solo exhibition in Finland in the following years.

Before these events, while studying in the late 1950s at the School of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Juhana Blomstedt was actively involved in the arts scene in Helsinki, writing art reviews and participating in multidisciplinary and experimental art projects. Even later, Juhana Blomstedt's work in art was interspersed with writing and teaching, and his attitude was marked by respect for genres other than the one closest to him, and discussion of their significance. This innate attitude was no doubt reinforced by his choice of Paris as his place of residence and work for many years.

Over the decades, Juhana Blomstedt held solo exhibitions in many European countries, mostly of course in France. In 1982, he represented Finland at the Venice Biennial. He also had large exhibitions in several Finnish art museums, and made a total of fifteen public works of art both in Finland and abroad.

Juhana Blomstedt was an artist who, for over fifty years, developed his own vocabulary, his own highly nuanced visual idiom. Its individual "words" – signs, patterns, ways of execution – which were created in different decades and were in some stages given less use or completely set aside, were combined in the artist's later work into "sentences" of a new kind, entities that could also be related to completely new motifs.

When a visual motif or technique that has been used previously re-emerges in Juhana Blomstedt's works, it arouses in the viewer both the joy of recognition and the idea that a familiar motif in a new context will gain new meanings. Each painting is thus an individual piece with its own content, mood, subtle rules and conditions.

This exhibition has been compiled by Timo Valjakka from works in Juhana Blomstedt's studio. An expert on Blomstedt's art, Timo Valjakka was also the artist's close friend. Some of the works are from a recent showing of Juhana Blomstedt's last works held by Galerie Daniel Gervis, the French gallery with which the artist was associated for many years.

Along with paintings, the exhibition features miniature sculpture by Juhana Blomstedt. These works are presented in the book "Immaterial Weight", which will be published in connection with the exhibition. The essay in the book on the works of sculpture is by the painter Silja Rantanen and there is an interview with Juhana Blomstedt by Martti Anhava. The graphic design of the book is by the architect Juhani Pallasmaa.

Ilona Anhava

Anhava
Mannerheiminaukio, 3 - Helsinki

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