LEENA NIO – IMPROVED PAINTINGS
2021-02-08Leena Nio’s new paintings are all about layers – both physically and symbolically. Layering has always been Nio’s signature technique, but this time the concept is taken to the next level. Nio experiments with a new technical idiosyncrasy in each of her exhibitions, with each painting taking its cue from a minor, commonplace occurrence. The mundanity leaves plenty of room for both the painting process and the viewer’s interpretations to unfold freely.
Like many peers of her generation, Nio collected stickers and Victorian die-cuts in her childhood. These “stickers” have now found their way into her paintings. The glossy, lacquered pictorial elements hovering on the surface of the canvas are – despite being hand-painted – deceptively reminiscent of stickers or die-cuts. They are like emojis added to a text message. Or Instagram posts with added stickers and filters. The paintings in the exhibition achieve the same effect: using 21st-century tools, they take the message to the next level. With her add-on flourishes, Nio also self-reflexively comments on her process. Often finding it difficult to know when to finish a painting, she adds the final sticker as if dotting an “i” or crossing a “t.”
Opposite – Cherry, 2021
Exhibition runs through to February 28th, 2021
Galerie Forsblom
Galerie Forsblom Yrjönkatu 22
00120 Helsinki
Finland
