Wasa Graffitilandia is an outdoor art exhibition in an abandoned amusement park in Vaasa, Finland. Over 100 artists took part in filling the place with all sorts of art during the summer 2021 and the venue was open for public for the late summer ’til it closed its doors. But since the event was a success and the place itself is huge, the organisers announced that round two for the event would take place later this year. I was lucky enough to be invited for this event as well.
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Wasa Graffitilandia, round two
Copenhagen calls, again!
Later this month I have the pleasure of painting at 2021 edition of Meeting of Styles. In Copenhagen, Denmark. The last time I participated in the actual event in Copenhagen was back in 2016. That was also my first ever Meeting of Styles event. Well, ok, I did participate last years remote edition too, but due to travelling restrictions related to COVID19, my input took place from the safety of my own country.
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Demolition Art Takeover
Demolition Art project expands its concept to a new spot, this time on a premises that are not going to be demolished but quite the opposite: the place has been renovated and the owner wants to offer something new to their clients. So they contacted Jouni Väänänen, the person behind the Home of Art and many other projects and started negotiating about how Demolition Art concept would fit in their business plan. So, the place is nothing less than Hotel Helka, right in the heart of Helsinki City, and the outcome will be open (with restrictions) to public from January 14th 2021.
Art for sale
Since December 2020 some of my works have been on sale at Taiko, a Finnish Art Online -store… and that’s really it.
Do check them out, will ya?
HellRaisers Crew, 2nd edition
And the 2nd edition means the book, not the crew…
2016
When we released our book, titled as “HellRaisers Crew – osa Espoolaisuutta vuodesta 1990“, in 2016, we felt a bit unsatisfied about the release. We originally planned it to be nearly twice as thick, but since we published it ourselves, we had to cut the costs in order to even get it out. Meaning reducing the size and the amount of material. And we also had a hard time deciding whether to do the book in finnish or english. As you all know, we went for the domestic version.
Three years later
Sometimes in late 2019 I asked from Rosk if it would be ok for him if I’d begin translating the book in english. With a thought that we could release an english version as a pdf later on. This was fine for him…
Another residency visit
This summer I’ll be staying for few weeks at the Old Mine Residency at Outokumpu, an old mining town in the eastern parts of Finland.
I’ve visited the town a few times prior to this, painted few public works as well as held workshops with my crew mate Soved. Continue Reading
Eyes on the Horizon
Espoo City Museum launched their latest exhibition, titled as “Eyes on the Horizon” earlier this year. The very same museum which obtained copy of our book released in 2016 (relevance explained later). This exhibition tells about seaside Espoo from the perspective of changes faced in livelihoods, leisurely pursuits and in nature over the years. Many of the stories are told thru one particular area/neighbourhood of the city. This very neighbourhood is Kivenlahti, a region residing on the seashore of the southwestern Espoo.
Well, it just happens that out of the many areas of Espoo, Kivenlahti is also the area where I painted the most during the nineties. Sure, as an actual area, the Länsiväylä highway itself was the place where I as well as my crew HRC painted the most, but it passes thru many regions of Espoo (Kivenlahti included) so that’s why it’s out from the comparison.
Thank You For The Music
In January 2019 I started to paint a series of paintings under the working title “Thank You For The Music”. Idea in a nutshell is to repaint artwork from albums that are important to me. Repaint, not copy. Well, to be honest, there is a slight doze of that included as well.
Let me explain this a bit. Around year 2000, when graffiti made space for computer graphics and Photoshop became my main tool, the idea of combining my spray painted works with illustrations I’d do at the computer was born. But at that point my skills with Photoshop were really not that good, so I ditched the idea. Continue Reading
Bubbling under
After rather active summer and early autumn I’ve taken a bit slower on the actual graffiti painting front. Intentionally, I might add. Because the remnants of 2018 I’ve been busy planning the coming year of 2019. As well as painting some back patches and t-shirts for both Christmas sales as promotional use. And of course painting as much canvases as possible for future exhibitions.
Payback Jam 2018
Payback Jam is a hip hop event that takes place in Jyväskylä, Finland. This year in the middle of the town, Kauppalaispiha to be more precise.
And why am I posting about this..? Well, in addition to rap music, street dancers, parkour and whatnot there’s also live graffiti painting on the spot. For example by a local writer, Rives, whom I think happens to be one of the best stylewriters in Finland at the moment. Seriously. Check the dude out! But yes, I will be painting there too.
So, be there or be… something. And if you decide to just be something, at least check out the FB-event and Insta-accounts of the organiser. If possible, I’ll try to post something from the event as well. Most likely on my Insta-account.
