Giants and Uncertain Atmospheres at the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum

Gas Giant by Jacob Hashimoto 

The Wäinö Aaltonen Art Museum is having a really good year. Their exhibitions tend to go for the more "out there" stuff, some of which is amazing and some just going for the shock value; the shock value stuff tends to leave me cold, but art is subjective, of course. Fortunately, the current exhibition, Jacob Hashimoto's Giants and Uncertain Atmospheres, soars right into the "amazing" category.

Hashimoto's work is colourful, fun, and inspired by science fiction and video games, so it's right up my alley. He uses a lot of kites in his work, like the installation pictured above. A photo can't do it justice. You need to experience the scale of it to really get a feel for how beautiful it is. 

Super-Robots and Celestial Mechanics

I liked the mix of Japanese minimalism and playfulness. Kids would love this exhibition. Some of the pieces reminded me of fractals and vintage video games, and I loved the use of science fiction elements, like references to wormholes and spaceships.

   This one has the feel of '50s science fiction cover art.

The Air Smelled of Subversion and Boundaries, All Glitter with Bright, Sourceless Light

This piece showcases Hashimoto's interesting technique. Are the shadows cast by the piece part of the piece, or just coincidental? Could one construct a story based on the visual representation here? And don't you love that title? 

The exhibition is open until September 24th, if you want to check it out. 

A Surprising Side of Wäinö Aaltonen

Finland is celebrating its 100th year of independence this year, and the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum in Turku is joining in with an exhibition of Wäinö Aaltonen's work. When I think of Aaltonen, what comes to mind are his sculptures, like these gilded figures that once stood in the Finnish Parliament. Apparently they were deemed too ostentatious and replaced with bronze casts at some point, but the originals are returning to the parliament house this year as part of the celebration. But that's not all there is to Aaltonen, and this exhibition is a great opportunity to see some of his more experimental work. 

This one is titled Beholder from the Depth. Pretty Lovecraftian, no?

Atlantis II. I love that dreamy, fairy-tale blue. 

This piece was hard to photograph, but that dark bit is actually missing. The piece is titled Shadow on the Face.  It's super creepy in person, because if you approach from the left, it looks like a perfectly normal sculpture, and then you suddenly see that gash on her face. Unsettling. 

The exhibition is running until May 7th if you want to check it out.