I visited Art Centre Salmela in Mäntyharju with my parents. It was a little difficult to agree on a date, but we did, eventually. Salmela is one place I wouldn’t miss for the world.

My dad wants me to come to every single art exhibition they visit in summer time. Obviously I can’t, because most of my time I’m in Tampere and I have other things to do. So every summer I have to assure him how it’s not the end of the world for me if I miss out on some things.

It’s cute, though. Art is one of the very few things we can talk about without arguing. He’s also quite open minded towards art, which I can totally appreciate. And now he wants me to come to Retretti as well, actually because I suggested myself we could go see Ellen Thesleff‘s work. I’m not particularly fond of symbolist art, but I like hers.

But let’s move on. The exhibition in Salmela takes place in these old buildings, one of them a pharmacy, one a post office, one a servant’s quarters and then some storehouses. There’s a beautiful garden with a pond, alcoves designed by famous Finnish architects, barns that double as a Nina Terno museum, and the whole site is next to the beautiful lake of Pyhävesi.

Everytime I visit Salmela, they have many artists that I really like and admire. Usually they’re newcomers.

This time I was determined to remember the names of the artists that I liked. Thus far, I’ve always forgotten the names by the time we get back in the car. That’s how my mind works: one second I hear or read a name, the next I’ve already forgotten it.

But lo and behold! My cell phone has a notebook function.

I made note of Anne Hyvönen, Topi Ruotsalainen, Tuomo Rosenlund, Alexander Novoselov and Sampsa Sarparanta. All oil painters, surprise surprise.

When trying to find links for these names, I noticed it’s surprisingly hard to find information on Finnish artists online, especially in English. Even older ones! And then there are some amateur attention whores like me who blog about their primitive work. Sad.

Here is one piece from the exhibition, by Anne Hyvönen. I like her painting style, and the happy colours. Her way of drawing the contours is so free, relaxed and confident.

The next one is by Alexander Novoselov. His paintings all depicted some scenes from Kalevala, or were inspired by some of the stories from the epic. He’s insanely talented! I couldn’t stop scrutinizing his technique, how he’d done all the details and the effects of light.

While I don’t think Kalevala is the most original choice as regards subject matter, it’s fair to say he has his own way of painting about it. I admired in particular his knack for using surprising colours, as at first glance it looks like he’s using local colours religiously.

This one is by Tuomo Rosenlund. His paintings were really humorous and colourful, and very imaginative. You should check out his website for more of his paintings (though the ones in Salmela aren’t available there yet) – you can see how much his style has changed year by year!

The next one is by Topi Ruotsalainen. I saw this painting through a couple of doors from the other side of the main building, and thought these were real people! He paints people very vividly. Usually seen from the backside.

The rest of the artists weren’t bad, either. Salmela has the best of the best in general. In the end, however, I’m always most drawn to oil painters, especially when they paint more or less in a traditional way.

By traditional I mean realistic. By realistic I mean that they depict something that you can immediately recognize as a representation of something from the real world.

I like it when a painting looks realistic at first sight, but on closer inspection there’s something “off” about it. There’s something you can recognize instinctively, but also something that makes you wonder what the painter was trying to say.

There were some more abstract paintings by Sam Vanni, for example. I liked the colour combinations in them, but they seemed too repetitive. Apparently his style has always been more or less the same.

It makes me appreciate the likes of Tuomo Rosenlund even more. I think a professional artist should be able to develop new ways, ideas and techniques over time.

Sigh. Apart from Retretti, there probably won’t be any more art exhibitions for me this summer. One of my old favourites, Suvi-Pinx, no longer organizes exhibitions. Last summer was their last time. They always had some really good artists, whose names of course I never bothered to write down. Thankfully they have the website still up!

Of course there are some exhibitions in Tampere, but I don’t like going alone. It’s boring when you can’t discuss the art with anyone.  Apart from my parents, I don’t know anyone who’d actually enjoy going to see art. If I go with someone who’s only mildly interested, it’ll ruin the experience for me. Oh well.

(Pictures: http://www.taidekeskussalmela.fi/; http://www.kuva.fi; http://www.tuomorosenlund.com; http://www.atelierstockholm.se)