EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY ART FROM FINLAND
Printmaking requires relatively large investment in the equipment. For this reason artists share their resources. The point of reference for the group of artists exhibiting at Linnankatu 13 is Helsinki Litho, a lithography shop at Kalasatama, Helsinki. Working together quite naturally leads to exhibiting together. We have been since 2012 in the present location, kindly provided for gallery use by the city of Savonlinna. The house with the artisan inner yard resides very near to the castle of St Olaf. One summer the guest book swell up to 6000 names and prints were sold to nine different countries. At winter time the house serves children of Savonlinna as a daycare with an emphasis in art. People of Savonlinna have received their new exhibition space with enthusiasm. The gallery promotes Finnish contemporary visual art and chamber music also by organizing pop up happenings in various locations.
The role of art in maintaining life stays and deepens next to the flood of media imagery. The aim of art is to brake the barriers to be able to open us the basis of humanity. The artist and the viewer are equal in front of the mystery of existence. As it gives light and hope, art offers a possibility to identify with the mirror image it shows us. We will see not just our strengths, but also our weaknesses in that image. As the hardest of rock brakes, art can open us a way to another human soul. (Kuutti Lavonen, translation by Kalle Berg)