THE CONDITIONS OF BEING – Teemu Korpela
My exhibition consists of paintings in which I examine how an unconventional presentation of paintings and the manipulation of materials change the nature of perception and observation.
The human body and its limitations have been the subject of my contemplation throughout the time I have been creating visual art. The themes of violence and limitation are also intertwined with a strong visual hunger for the human body. While I have found peace from my own body by subjecting it to regular physical exertion outside the studio, I have found peace from this visual craving by “devouring” my subject through drawing or painting. The periods of old art, especially the Baroque imagery, serve as a fetishistic subject for me, containing an abundance of aesthetically perfected depictions of bodies that suffer in the conflict between flesh and spirit. My earlier visual contemplation has been rather direct, focusing solely on desire and pain. I have not previously reflected much on the significance of these two to myself, let alone their broader significance to human beings.
The themes that interest me have expanded to address the conditions of the event of existence, which seem to be defined by various objects, production, and consumption. I am intrigued by the actions required for mental fulfillment, presence, and the experience of existence, which are materialistic in nature.
I experience permanence, safety, and goodness when creating or experiencing art because I feel that art presents what is potentially good in a person. I do not mean good in a sentimental sense, but rather that in art, I see humanity’s potential to approach unfamiliar and difficult matters as a positive challenge and opportunity for expansion.
The exhibition at Poriginal Gallery deals with the darker side of the theme of existence: I experience presence and existence when I suffer or succeed while painting, when I satisfy my visual hunger caused by my subjects. On the level of vision, only a sense of fullness offers a brief relief from this hunger. My experience of presence is strongly tied to materialistic desire, fulfillment, and power, as well as the production and consumption of constant suffering or pleasure.
In the paintings in this exhibition, for me, it is about changing power relations through the deformation of these painting objects and the revelation of their material nature. In imitating the visual language of the imagery I have a fetishistic relationship with, I am still under the influence of the convention of perceiving and viewing the image and object, but through the act of shaping and revealing, their power and influence transform into something else. Through the gesture of crumpling, the paintings become more myself, providing me with a space to exist without being defined by my desires.
My exhibition is part of an ongoing project that I am carrying out as part of my Master’s studies at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Teemu Korpela
Translated with ChatGPT