MAIJU SALMENKIVI: SPLASH
20.1. – 19.2.2012
Kalhama & Piippo has the great pleasure of opening Maiju Salmenkivi’s (b.1972) solo show Splash presenting new works by the artist. In connection to the exhibition an artist book presenting Salmenkivi’s recent body of work is published. The book is the fourth book in the gallery’s publication series presenting young artists.
In the article “Puddle paintings of Maiju Salmenkivi’s art” concerning Salmenkivi’s recent body of work art historian and critic Juha-Heikki Tihinen describes the artist’s recent work in the following way:
“Salmenkivi’s novel landscapes are connected to her earlier urban landscapes, which were based on working in and playing with the continuum of painterly realism. Playfulness and playing are typical features of Salmenkivi’s artistry; her working methods are in many ways indicative of the fact how the artists’ works, with their unrestrained fantasies, approach pure imagination while still retaining the reality of their material side. [--]
Most of Salmenkivi’s paintings are different kinds of landscapes. However, the artist always wants to include a human figure in the picture; according to her, the figure will provide the viewer with a clue of the scale of the work. From an art historical perspective, I often find Salmenkivi’s paintings to be hybrids of classical and romantic landscapes. The difference is similar to that between an emotional and an intellectual landscape; a romantic landscape is reminiscent of a portrayal of the unconscious, whereas an intellectual landscape includes a conceptualised space and references either to classical mythology or to the tradition of classical landscape painting. Romantic landscapes are expressed through the artist’s broad brush strokes and luscious colours, whereas intellectual or classical landscapes are embedded in the way her works represent a combination of that which is observed and that which is processed. [--]
Salmenkivi is like an alchemist, creating new materials and revealing hidden, invisible connections between different worlds. The viewer feels like walking through a polymorphic maze, where the environment will sometimes become humanised, acquiring its own character and personality. Tensions and moods are linked with each other in a way that reminds me of the dizzying and absolutely captivating effect of the scene in the hall of mirrors in Orson Welles’ (1915–1984) The Lady from Shanghai (1947). The space and the characters live commensurately, forming an organic whole. The images continue to live inside my mind – Maiju Salmenkivi’s pictorial power has weaved its magic.”
(Quotations from the article: Puddle paintings of Maiju Salmenkivi’s art, Juha-Heikki Tihinen. Gallery Kalhama&Piippo Contemporary Publications A004/2012.)
