GalleriesNow featured artist Jukka Virkkunen for his first UK solo exhibition, From the Seven Eggs of Pochard at ANNKA KULTYS GALLERY.
JUKKA VIRKKUNEN
10 DECEMBER 2021 — 8 JANUARY 2022
OPENING RECEPTION
THURSDAY, 9 DECEMBER, 6—8PM
PRESS RELEASE
Annka Kultys is pleased to present the work of Finnish artist Jukka Virkkunen in his first ever solo UK exhibition From the Seven Eggs of Pochard taking place at the newly refurbished and redesigned gallery. The exhibition features six of his new transformative paintings, composed of the remnants of earlier installations. The richly coloured textiles bare the markings of the artist’s studio, transportation and method.
Virkkunen’s practice touches on the same themes of transformation and rebirth found in the epic poem, the Finnish national Kalevala. The 19th-century poem derived from finish oral folklore describing the origins of the earth and begins with ‘Birth of Wainamoinen’.The creation myth tells the story the earth transforming from shards of seven eggs that had fallen off the body of a woman floating in the sea. Connecting to the transformative concept, Virkkunen deconstructs the remaining work from each exhibition, reusing the materials by stripping down the frames only to re-drape the vibrant fabric.
Below is the beginning excerpt from Kalevala. Translated text in English followed by the original Finnish text.
BIRTH OF WAINAMOINEN
And the eggs fall into ocean,
Dash in pieces on the bottom
Of the deep and boundless waters.
In the sand they do not perish,
Not the pieces in the ocean;
But transformed, in wondrous beauty
All the fragments come together
Forming pieces two in number,
One the upper, one the lower,
Equal to the one, the other.
From one half the egg, the lower,
Grows the nether vault of Terra:
From the upper half remaining,
Grows the upper vault of Heaven;
From the white part come the moonbeams,
From the yellow part the sunshine,
From the motley part the starlight,
From the dark part grows the cloudage;
Siepalehet veen sekahan,
Muuttuivat murut hyviksi,
Kappalehet kaunoisiksi:
Munasen alainen puoli
Alaiseksi maa-emäksi,
Munasen yläinen puoli
Yläiseksi taivahaksi,
Yläpuoli ruskeaista
Päivöseksi paistamahan,
Yläpuoli valkeaista
Se kuuksi kumottamahan;
Mi munassa kirjavaista,
Ne tähiksi taivahalle,
Mi munassa mustukaista,
Nepä ilman pilvilöiksi.