Monday, July 27, 2009

Beauty of Helsinki

At that time (in 1988) I used to wake up early in the morning, around 5 o'clock. I was in Helsinki with my film crew. I went early to bed to wake up early as well. I went downtown with my camera. I think the surroundings of the Helsinki Cathedral are at their most beautiful by night, when there is no-one on the move there. I don't know if I could and dared to move alone in the streets of Helsinki any more at night. The old town was being restored under the leadership of Professor Aarno Ruusuvuori "day and night". It did become beautiful. By watching at this scenery I charged my mind for the day.

Identifiers: Helsinki

Friday, July 24, 2009

Unto Pusa

The book was published posthumously in 1982. I had got to know Unto Pusa in Helsinki towards the end of the 1950's. We were colleagues, teaching prospective architects, he was doing it in Helsinki and I in Oulu. Pusa and his works had also visited the Oulu Art Festivals. The cover of the book displays a photo taken by me in Kastelli Church in 1962. He had invited me to the spot when he was finishing his large stained glass entitled "Against the Light" (Vasten valoa).

Identifiers: Pusa

Friday, July 17, 2009

Eeli and Airi

Today I was left wondering why I had framed certain paintings? Why these very paintings that then spent their time in cupboards or corners without being seen by anyone. Yes, I am attracted by old-fashionedness. A painting needs a theme and a frame. It must be done manually, carefully and with good materials. A painting must endure for years, decades, even centuries, if it is treated properly. My painting must be modest but solid. Airi behind me seems to be marking photos with texts. Our computer has lots of photos – more than 15,000.

Identifiers: Eeli and Airi

Paavo Rintala and Oulu City Library

Twenty years ago in 1988 I made a documentary entitled “A Meeting in Oulu” (Tapaaminen Oulussa) for TV2. I had invited Paavo Rintala to Oulu and there to the City Library, a place where we had common memories. As early as the 1940's we often went to the reference library because of its excellent art library. Paavo was finishing his novel called “Me, Grünewald”. He narrated in detail about the influence of art books on his production. Paavo was influenced the most by the Isenheim Altarpiece. He had then concentrated for several years on its painter. It became a discussive film on the meaning of the art library for two schoolboys.

The return to Ithaca

(Photo: Jorma Karhunen)

Identifiers: Paavo Rintala

Paintings Missing from a Series

I think all makers of art have lost materials from different times. I was (have always been) fascinated by the narration of stories through visual arts. I painted imaginative Kalevala-type Finnish forests in the 1950's despite the fact that abstract art had entered post-war Finland at such a speed and did not approve of narrative pictures. So these became unpublished art – although quite large by size. I enjoyed painting these pictures, little caring what their fate would be. So, they have disappeared in the course of the years. I could only find a few unsharp photos.

Identifiers: Lost pictures.