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HELSINKI CONTEMPORARY AT CHART ART FAIR |BOOTH 4

24 – 27 AUGUST 2023

For CHART 2023, Helsinki Contemporary present works by artist Anna Retulainen. Renowned for her exceptional colorist skills, her style combines expressionism with refined stylization. In her working process, Retulainen contemplates painting conventions and perceptions, utilizing subjects as merely platforms to achieve a harmonious interplay of movement, layered paint, and vibrant colors. Themes range from garden still lifes to intimate drawings reflecting her everyday life and those close to her. Drawing is a way of life for Retulainen. At her studio, drawings become paintings, fusions of life and art.

Anna Retulainen's new series of works, titled ’I Invite You to My Home,’ consists of equally sized paintings, which at first glance appear abstract, but upon closer inspection, reveal themselves as multilayered interior depictions of apartments in Rome, Berlin, and Helsinki. Through these paintings, Retulainen invites the viewer into her home while exploring the sense of homeliness. The series is composed of several smaller sub-series, all born from the deliberate limitation of artistic techniques. The first sub-series is painted in dim light, during twilight hours, while the second focuses on scarcity of materials, and delicate charcoal markings. The third series is executed without outlines, as color field paintings. Paradoxically, by restricting her painting methods, Retulainen has discovered new power of expression.

Anna Retulainen (b. 1969) is a prominent Finnish contemporary painter, who has exhibited in Finland and internationally since 1995. She has received two nominations for the esteemed Carnegie Art Award (1999, 2014). In 2018 Retulainen’s paintings became the first contemporary artworks permanently displayed at the Finnish Presidential Palace.