Photographic Gallery Hippolyte

Anna Niskanen: Oyster

Anna Niskanen’s solo exhibition Oyster, in Hippolyte’s gallery space, presents a collection of hand-printed photomontages that transform the old cinema into a water-filled room. Water surrounds us and flows within us – the water in our bodies supports us. The movement, shimmer, and sound of moving water remind us of our origins.

The materiality and surface of the large-scale, unique works emphasise the physicality and labour of the process. The cyanotype, dating back almost 200 years, is a printing process in which a light-sensitive emulsion is applied to paper, exposed to ultraviolet light, and finally washed with water. After exposure, a Prussian blue image is formed due to oxidation.

Various waterscapes blend together in the exhibition space. While individual sheets appear abstract, placing them side by side in their entirety reveals new images of the element. The photographs—captured at sea, on shores, of streams, waterfalls, and puddles—serve as a starting point for the artworks. The edited pictures of nature oscillate between memories and imagination.

The collages feature photographs taken during Niskanen’s residencies abroad, where she encountered different bodies of water. Recently, Niskanen has also travelled by sea. The movement from one place to another can become a transitional space that offers a unique opportunity to observe the surrounding environment and nature. Niskanen employs traditional methods of photography and printmaking to reflect on the significance of photography as a means of preserving memories and as a source of imagination.

The accompanying story, by Helen Korpak, suggests viewing the works as suspended scenes played by natural forces.

Valokuvagalleria Hippolyte
Yrjönkatu 8–10, sisäpiha, 00120 Helsinki
Free entrance

Liinu Grönlund: Atlas

Liinu Grönlund reflects on a horse’s role in her exhibition Atlas. The exhibition is a poetic and personal exploration of a horse’s significance, which is part of a broader theme in her work. Although Grönlund is rarely involved with horses anymore, they often occupy her thoughts.

Her earliest memories of horses involve drawing them with her grandmother and modelling them in clay. Her grandmother was never satisfied with her own drawings of horses and would redraw them, again and again. Grönlund sees a connection between the difficulty of drawing horses and the  impossibility  of understanding another species’s experience. The exhibition at Hippolyte Studio comprises various images of horses that attempt to approach the animal—including photographs, drawings, and video.

Liinu Grönlund’s contemplation on animals and war converged when she discovered old photographs among the belongings of a deceased relative, captured by their father of dead humans and horses from the front lines. In her essayistic video work, Grönlund intertwines images and memories of horses with observations of the remnants of war infiltrating everyday life. The horse is like a ghost from the past among us. The camera calmly observes a herd of horses living in their species-typical way.

Hands search for forgotten images of horses in boxes and flea markets. These hands both care for and restrict,  reinforcing human superiority over animals. Grönlund has always been fascinated by old photographs and is interested in the associations that arise when comparing them to present-day images and events.

Hippolyte Studio
Yrjönkatu 8–10, sisäpiha, 00120 Helsinki
Free entrance