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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Copenhagen calls, again!
About writing
…as in, writing text. More like as in lyrics, I might add.
It might come as a surprise to many, who follow my graffiti related adventures, that writing my name with spray paint or even editing a book about our crew have not been the only things I’ve written during my creative years. At one point of my life I wrote something else – which occasionally makes me even more happier than painting my name in ornamental form ever did. Yet I feel it’s very related to what I do graffiti wise as well.
During 2004-2007 I wrote some lyrics for my favourite band, The Project Hate MCMXCIX. That means for two of their albums, “Armageddon March Eternal” and “In Hora Mortis Nostrae“. I am not a real author/writer, but I got inside the atmosphere and lyrical theme of their albums in no time. Continue Reading
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?
The last exhibition for 2020
Due to COVID19 and all the restrictions caused by it, I’ve spent countless hours indoors in 2020. And I’ve used a lot of that time for creating art. Which in general has been a good thing, because in 2019 I reserved an exhibition time for myself for early 2020 and the gallery space is large. Meaning that I’d be needing quite a few canvases to avoid presenting empty walls.
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
Vielä sananen työn arvostamisesta
Julkaisimme reilu viikko sitten kannanoton, jonka pointti lyhykäisyydessään oli “ammattitaiteilijan on saatava palkkaa tekemästään työstä – myös graffititaiteilijan”. Mielestäni tämä on täysin selkeä ja ennen kaikkea reilu vaatimus. Olisiko ihan Suomen työlainsäädännönkin mukainen? Lisäksi pyysimme taiteilijoita harkitsemaan tarkkaan, miten suhtautua ilmaistyötarjouksiin. Kannattaa ylipäätänsä pohtia sitä, kuka ilmaistyöstä hyötyy – ja miten. Useimmiten se hyöty valuu aivan muualle kuin sen luovan työn tekevän ammattilaisen “laariin”. Ylläoleva videokin käy tätä samaa ilmiötä läpi, toki hieman yleisemmin ja humoristisesti luovan alan näkökulmasta. Ilmiö ei ole siis rajattu vain ylvääseen kotimaahamme. Continue Reading
Artists not always paid fairly
Every now and then I feel like we graffitiartists are the only outlaws at the art market and the only ones forced to work for free, only to grow our cv and get positive visibility or any other lame excuse like that. Ok, those arguements are (or have been) commonly used in graphic design as well as web design related projects. Fortunatelly to a lesser extent. Or at least so I hope. Anyways, when news like this pop up to the news feed of various social media services I start to see red. The problem is very real and still rooted very strong. I demand change. And feel like I need to raise my voice further on this matter and hope it gets heard somehow, somewhere. Continue Reading
Vantaa Art Museum ARTSI
I had the pleasure to participate at “Our Street” exhibition at Vantaa Art Museum at late fall of 2014. Since my work was painted directly on the wall, it was naturally painted over after the exhibition.
Later next year museum announced a major change in their concept: they’d be the first finnish museum to concentrate on street art, graffiti included. As part of this they ordered a painting from me, since all the other participants at the “Our Street” exhibition had left some of their work for the museum. Now my painting is part of their collection as well. That’s a huge thing for me. Continue Reading
