Exhibition Detail - Samuelis Baumgarte Galery

About the exhibition

Finissage, Friday, August 12, 2022, 7.00 p.m.

Talk: Art and political discourse in the here and now

Alexander Baumgarte
Christina Végh, Kunsthalle Bielefeld
Rouven Lotz, Emil Schumacher Museum, Hagen

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Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld, Germany, presents an extensive show of works by Finnish artists Emma Helle and Jarmo Mäkilä from May 18, 2022 to August 13, 2022. Entitled "At the second Glance," the works of the internationally successful artists interact with each other in their figurative formal language. The often hidden details in the sculptures of Helle as well as in the pictorial narratives of Mäkilä's paintings only become apparent "at second glance". Alegorical, mythological and sometimes also sinister aspects are revealed by the artworks, reflecting symbolist and surealle views of the world in their respective media.

The opening of the exhibition will be held on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 7 pm with an introduction by Dr. Jens Rönnau, Kiel - curator and journalist. Both artists will be present. Accompanying the exhibition will be a leavelet.

Emma Helle (*1979) is a Finnish sculptor who casts the spotlight on the marginalized creatures, usually relegated to secondary status in art history. She portrays cherubs and feminine sprites in the starring role, as active agents by using ceramics. Relaxed, unpretentious, and generous in her style of portrayal, she lends soft, curvaceous shapes to the feminine bodies with a breadth and richness of expression that evokes canonical works from art history. Throughout the ages, there have always been specific conventions that have dictated the portrayal of the human body, a legacy that Helle addresses through a dual lens of art history and corporeality. Emma Helle is a graduate of the Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts. Her work is represented in many private and public collections, including the State Art Collection, the Helsinki Art Museum HAM, and the Pro Artibus collection. She has had several solo exhibitions, including the Turku Art Museum, and she has taken part in group exhibitions at the Mänttä Art Festival, Kunsthalle Helsinki, and the Espoo Museum of Modern Art EMMA, Finland.

Jarmo Mäkilä’s (*1952) boyhood-themed paintings can be interpreted as an investigation of the human condition, his throngs of boys symbolizing a multi-cloned self-image projected into a variety of different situations. His paintings incorporate elements from the artist’s personal history in a boyhood adventure tinged with hints of surrealism and symbolism. For many years, Mäkilä has been immersed in portraying the psychological landscapes of childhood; youth for him represents a condition of anarchy – a time of unlimited adventure free of duty and responsibility. The boys in his paintings are lost in their own private worlds, like Peter Pan, or the Lost Boys, who never want to grow up. In a career spanning 40 years, Mäkilä has earned himself an established place as one of Finland’s foremost artists and attracted widespread international interest with his boyhood paintings.

The exhibition follows on from the major exhibition "Lehmä pitää viedä jälle jotta se tanssi" of Finnish art from 2017. At the second Glance" continues this exhibition tradition of our gallery and underlines the worldwide recognition of Emma Helle's and Jarmo Mäkilä's artworks.

Opening hours of the gallery

Monday – Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m