30. 9. – 24. 10. 2004
"Out of the previous culture there will be a heap of rubble and finally a heap of ashes; yet, over the ashes, spirits will hover"
This note by Ludwig Wittgenstein from 1930 could well have been written about Henry Wuorila-Stenberg’s latest paintings, which will be on show in an exhibition at Galerie Anhava. This exhibition coincides with the Helsinki City Art Museum’s Wuorila-Stenberg retrospective at the Meilahti Art Museum.
The museum exhibition shows that Henry Wuorila-Stenberg has always been uncompromising in his own way. The appearance, emotional scale and content of his works range from silent, almost monochromatic and tantric paintings to wildly coloured expression, while the artist is always and definitely in earnest. When he paints, he has something to say, and he can say whatever is important at that moment with precisely the means suitable to its content. The paintings change along with man and his worldview.
Wuorila-Stenberg’s latest paintings are dark and blood red. Our culture has evolved so far that, as such, it is inevitably going to its doom. But what will follow? The possibilities of total destruction and slender hope seek balance, creating a tensed mood marked by menace. The final answer regarding the possibilities of the future, however, remains open. Perhaps it depends on us…
