Renowned for his interest in history and traditions Aki Turunen’s works in the exhibition derive their inspiration from ‘The Romances of Palamède de Guermantes’ in the Marcel Proust novel 'In Search of Lost Time’. ‘The Romances of Palamède de Guermantes’ examines the broader themes of love, jealousy, and the disintegration of social norms during a time of profound cultural change and reveal a deep yearning for connection, complex emotional life and the tragic consequences of repressing true (sexual) identity within a society that refuses to accept it. In Proust's novel there is a particular section where (Palamède's) conflicting sex desire is being described with birds of paradise, dwarf bees, and by various lengths of floral pistils. ‘These descpritions felt like an immense painterly image and acted as a starting point for my work’. Turunen reflects these tensions through his vivid imagery, blending vibrant colours with intricate forms to create a visually arresting yet emotionally charged body of work.

In the paintings and works on paper enigmatic and colourful birds - almost camouflaged within the floral and just as colourful backdrops - are slowly appearing before our eyes. Flittering in the breeze, between each other, insects and flowers - like in a dance of courtship - they reveal themselves to us anew in similar form within each work. A huming bird sucking the juicy nectar of a flower, a bird nipping or attacking a dragonfly-looking creature, a bird lightly carrying an oversized branch in its beak.

Although the works are aesthetically pleasing - drawing the viewer into these colourful tableaus - the works hint at a deeper struggle of opposites—truth versus fable, serenity versus turmoil, freedom versus repression. The birds’ actions prompt the question: Are they thriving in a harmonious world, or battling the invisible pressures of societal norms?

Turunen literally invites us to get lost in time – not only indicated by the title’s referentiality to Proust’s tale, but also in his approach to the actual execution and materiality of the works. Turunen’s masterful use of tempera, the oldest known painting technique, along with references to Medieval panel imagery, Art Deco’s fascination of floral motifs, and the Symbolist art movement’s strong colours matched by Turunen’s soft pastels, literary, reinforces the exhibition's layered narrative. In these richly detailed works, we see emotions and subjective experiences, influenced by literature, unfolding in a dreamlike tableau that invites viewers to lose themselves in time. The works exist in an eternal present—offering us a window into a world both familiar and mysterious that we can loose ourselves in if we dare.

Aki Turunen (b. 1983, Helsinki Finland) lives and works in Helsinki. He graduated with an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, in 2011. Turunen has also studied painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. His works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Finland, e.g. at the Helsinki Contemporary exhibition The Dragon Tamer, Galleria Forum Box and Kluuvi Gallery, and in Germany at SCHWARZ Contemporary and in Denmark, e.g. at Martin Asbæk Gallery. Turunen also participated in the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition in 2011. His works are, among others, in the collections of Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and the Finnish State Art Commission. In autumn 2021, the Finnish Art Society awarded Turunen a William Thuring designated prize.

Violets for Palamède
Aki Turunen