Koti
A Solo Exhibition by Martin Wittfooth
29.11.24 - 18.01.25
Opening reception: Friday, November 29th, 17.00 - 20.00
Koti is the Finnish word for home. This new series of paintings represents two overlapping perspectives with the title as a central catalyst. The first is local to the artist’s experience: approaching a quarter century of working as a Finnish, Canadian, and American artist (Wittfooth holds citizenships in all three countries) with long roots in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, this series celebrates a lifelong study and appreciation of painting from these regions and traditions. The new body of work represents a kind of “homecoming” in exploring approaches to painting and themes that echo various chapters of the artist’s journey through his creative practice, including the technical execution of the works: a painting process that follows the methods and techniques used by Northern European classical painters in the post-Renaissance period, which have been a mainstay to the artist’s own development as a painter over the years. In Koti there is also a familiar return to motifs and themes that the artist has previously explored - many of which are also inspired by the artist’s own environment, living and working between Ontario, Canada, where it borders New York State, and Savannah, Georgia - but with a reflection on current events in the narratives and subject matter. This is where we arrive at the second perspective of this body of work: a reflection on the broader condition of the natural world - our home, as it were, one in which we find our species largely at odds and out of balance with its standard order, and that of the others we share it with. Throughout these paintings we encounter animal subjects interfacing with synthetic landscapes and artifacts; debris and trash, cast-off articles, industrial pipes, and architecture set the stage upon which nature in its wild aspect plays various parts in the allegorical narratives that simultaneously explore the subjective and objective perspectives of the series: that of the exile-bound, feral and self-discovering Nebuchadnezzar in “Reflecting Pool”, of the archetype of motherhood and selfless caregiver in “Mor”, of the symbolic duos found in fables, and as forms of self-portraiture of the artist discovering themselves and their processing of the times they are living in through the act of creation, as exemplified in “The Alchemist”.
Koti
A Solo Exhibition by Martin Wittfooth
29.11.24 – 18.01.25
Opening reception: Friday, November 29th, 17.00 – 20.00
Contact the gallery at [email protected] or tel.+ 45 33 33 93 96 for more info