Galerie Anhava’s new exhibition, EMERGING 2021, showcases the works of invited young artists. The EMERGING series has already become something of a tradition, and this year’s exhibition continues the line of exhibitions organised in 2011, 2013, and 2018. EMERGING 2021 introduces paintings and sculptures produced by three visual artists from Finland and one from Sweden.
Joel Slotte’s (b. 1987) new paintings present us with scenes of summer and winter. Slotte examines, for instance, the sensation that a specific action produces on the skin in a given season. The paintings provide clues to the viewer. A knight’s squire has failed to get off the lawn in a lapse of concentration. The UFO printed on his T-shirt points to the sense of being an outsider, and the tattooed snake on his arm is a symbol of renewal. In the background of the painting, we can see summer in its full glory, but the overall tone of the work remains still. Slotte has long been interested in plant lore and plants, such as the bittersweet nightshade, which was used as protection from witchcraft, and the hellebore, which was used to ward off mental disorder. These themes play an important role in the paintings. The works deliberately look for a balance between what is possible and what is not.
Joel Slotte graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2016. Since his graduation, Slotte has participated in several exhibitions, such as: Tonttuyö – Goblin Night, Galleria Live, Helsinki (2020), Trubaduuri ja pohjanlepakko (‘Troubadour and the Northern Bat’), Galleria Artista, Kokkola (2020), Lumpunkerääjä (‘Rag Collector’), tm•gallery, Helsinki (2019), Kootut salaisuudet (‘Collected Secrets’), Galleri Elverket, Tammisaari (2020), and group exhibition Vastahankaan (‘Disinclination’), Nastola Town Hall (2020). Joel Slotte was named as the Young Artist of the Year 2021.
– Ulla-Maija Pitkänen