Interventions, Ville Löppönen’s solo exhibition of his incandescent new paintings in saturated colours will be shown at Helsinki Contemporary in May. The title of the exhibition is a reference to painting getting involved in everyday life; the works portray family life and the closeness of presence. There is much that is new, not only in the colours used, but also in the form of the works: the mode of expression runs from being powerfully figurative in a more abstract, expressive direction.

In works that have almost Baroque atmospheres Löppönen brings out and awakens in viewers an experience easily forgotten in today’s tempo, of the importance and beauty of our own everyday lives. The paintings attempt to show that beauty and sanctity – love – can be found close to, right here. In the exhibition individual experiences extend to become universal and shared.

Ville Löppönen’s previous solo exhibition, Contemplation, was shown at Helsinki Contemporary in 2016. Already then, Löppönen was exploring the idea of looking for love, of its different manifestations and of living in love. The stillness and the quest for grace and love that previously had their point of departure in religious themes have led Löppönen in his new works to address experiences of the everyday; from silent, introspective prayer and action the gaze is now turned outwards, but has nevertheless not gone far away.

Once again, Löppönen takes a look at the continuum of the history of painting and the human chain of painters. Joining the “family of painting” in these new works are Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, whose art Löppönen has drawn from for his own works. Besides members of his painting family, in Interventions we also see self-portraits: Löppönen himself is now shown in the midst of everyday life, joining in children’s games, as part of a community, of his own family.

Ville Löppönen (b. 1980, Savonlinna) graduated with an MFA from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2007 and as a Master of Orthodox Theology in 2018. His works have been shown widely in Finland and abroad, including in North America and Australia. Löppönen is represented in public collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Oulu Art Museum, Turku Art Museum and the Henna and Pertti Niemistö Collection, and in numerous private collections in Finland and abroad.