OUR PHOTOS, PAINTIGS OF EVERYDAY – Arto Kettunen

Arto Kettunen paints people close to him or at least familiar to him. There are portrait-like elements in the paintings, but they can still be interpreted more as portraits of people. In his works, he depicts the human being in general. Different types of people and personalities come to the fore and, at their best, the works provoke a reaction of recognition, as if one knew the person who was the model.

At their best, the old portraits have also grown into portraits, images of people and humanity. Kettunen may use the model as portrait painters do, but he succeeds in taking the work beyond the portrait. His aims are not just to immortalise the model in a recognisable way. Kettunen relies on the basics, he tells about people through their essence. The gaze and posture create an image of the person.

Kettunen’s expression is realistic and he works at a large size. Kettunen depicts the everyday life of young adults and the impression is documentary. The idea behind his works boils down to the basic question of art: the relationship between the artist and the model. His works exude interaction, even though the elegant gestalt of his paintings leaves the artist himself largely invisible. Surprisingly, in his hands, the traditional painting print, appears modern. It is as if he is deliberately transporting the classical tradition of human portraiture into the modern age.

Kettunen takes group photos in large format. He brings people to the foreground of his paintings. But the space in which the models are placed is not unimportant.It contains both substantive and aesthetic meanings.The impression of depth gives the works a sense of space, but also allows for the subtle placement of dramatic elements in the background of the models.

The people in the paintings are ordinary. Their features are not classical but everyday. Attitudes, body language and relationships between people play an important role. The space between two people tells a story of human interaction. It can tell a story of power or love, of care or submission.

Kettunen’s paintings are not directly linked to the tradition of contemporary Finnish painting, but are more akin in content to photographic and video art, where humanity and communication between people are central images. However, the tradition of portrait painting gives them a strong narrative depth that is difficult to achieve with newer media.

The body of work also includes one laconic, declarative self-portrait. It is a message that Kettunen herself is part of the same reality as her models.

Veikko Halmetoja
Curator, critic

– Arto Kettunen (b. 1987) is a Helsinki-based visual artist who graduated from the Saimaa University of Applied Sciences in Imatra in 2016.He has also studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Kettunen has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout Finland, including at Taidekeskus Salmela in 2016 and 2017.

Translated with DeepL.com