Mika Vesalahti "Triton and other paintings"

ARS Project Space 19.06.–12.07.2025

Mon–Fri 12–18, Sat 12–16

Opening on Wednesday, June 18 at 17.00. Welcome!

Finnish painter Mika Vesalahti presents in his solo exhibition works from the monumental painting series "Hell´sGodMachine" (2017-2020) and "Triton" (2022-24). The last drawing series "Rootlandscape (Aletheia)" is finished in Italy in the winter of 2025.

The paintings by Mika Vesalahti talk about the chaos, violence and state of war of our times. We live under the pressure of violent forces and the idealistic view on the arts has been shattered. The artist questions whether painting can address the violence of the world, reconcile contradictions, release the suppressed, and can it therefore become a healing process.  

The paintings in the series form a whole, with the smaller paintings acting as alphabets for the independent grammar of the larger paintings.

Mika Vesalahti (b. 1967, Helsinki) graduated as a painter from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. He works with series of paintings. Vesalahti works internationally, both in exhibitions and residencies. Mika Vesalahti also writes and publishes art essays. He lives and works in Helsinki and Viljandi, Estonia.  

The exhibition is supported by the Alfred Kordelin foundation and Estonian Artists’ Association.

https://finnishpainters.fi/painter/finnish-painter-mika-vesalahti/

https://mikavesalahti.voog.com/fi

https://www.instagram.com/theartistmikavesalahti/

Hell´sGodMachine V, akrylic and oil on canvas, 2018, 270 x 360 cm