Welcome to the exhibition opening and the launch of the photography book Oma koti - Sweet home on Tuesday Febuary 21st from 5-7 PM.
Ari Jaskari (b,1958) is known for his photos depicting the Saimaa lake district and the people living on its shores. His photography exhibition and book Oma koti - Sweet home are based on material that Jaskari photographed in his home town Anttola in the early 1980's. The photographs offer intimate glimpses into Jaskari's family life and community, everyday life. Their world is at the same time familiar and unknown, confusing, gentle and harsh.
Jaskari's career began in the later 1970's with eco activism. In the early 1980's he moved back to his childhood home in Anttola, Southern Savolax area and gained reputation with his black and white work. Ari Jaskari's work was often seen in exhibitions both in Finland and abroad. He was a part of photography collective Gorilla.
Series Oma koti - Sweet home could be described as romantic realism. It was born in the time when the formerly quite socially oriented documentary photography became more conceptual and the political often became more subjective. In retrospect Jaskari's photography seems like a commentary on an era that was defined by urban culture and commercialism. The people in the series Sweet home lived in a reality beyond consumerism. Wood burning stove, water from the well and an oil lamp on the kitchen table are not nostalgia for these people, but necessities, the only possible choice. The photographs communicate tensions and moods between Jaskari family members but above all they tell about the connection with nature.
Nature is water, being in the water, rainy days in lake Saimaa and warm cliffs by the water. In Jaskari's photographs water is often combined with nudity that seem to represent timelessness and a paradise lost. That which is very close and at the same time unattainable.
Oma koti - Sweet home exhibition and book were produced by Riitta Raatikainen and Tuomo-Juhani Vuorenmaa. The book is published by Musta Taide.
Supported by Taike - Arts Promotion Center Finland, Finnfoto and Patricia Seppälä Foundation.
Additional information:
Riitta Raatikainen, riitta@tarina.fi, 050 373 3540
Tuomo-Juhani Vuorenmaa, Musta Taide,tume.vuorenmaa@gmail.com, 0400 681 709
