Helmikuun näyttelyiden avajaiset

“Varjotarinoita”
“Shadow Stories”

Vapaakaupungin galleria 6.2.-2.3.2025:
HANNA LEHIKOINEN
EDRIS SAMANI
VALENCIK

🥂🏵️Avajaiset 6.2.2025 Klo 17-19, lämpimästi tervetuloa!
🥂🏵️Vernissage 6th of February 5pm-7pm, welcome!

🌑Hanna Lehikoinen: Ghost Horse & Other Creatures

Ghost Horse & Other Creatures on sarja kuitukärkikynäpiirroksia, joiden maailma on taikuutta ja rituaaleja. Tässä teossarjassa olen antanut mielikuvituksen lentää ja pyrkinyt pitämään hauskaa teosten parissa. Koen useat hahmot humoristisina, vaikka taustalla usein vaikuttavatkin syvät, toisinaan kipeätkin tunteet ja kokemukset.

Hanna Lehikoinen (s.1990) on Tampereella asuva ja työskentelevä kuvataiteilija. Hän työskentelee piirustuksen ja tekstiiliveiston parissa. Lehikoisen taiteessa kokemukset, ajatukset ja tunteet keskustelevat mielikuvituksen kanssa ja muotoutuvat hahmoiksi, osiksi hiljalleen rakentuvaamyyttien kudelmaa. Luonto ja ihmiskeho yhdistyvät, latautuvat symboliikalla ja tunteilla johdattaen katsojaa fantasiaan. Kuolema on vahvasti läsnä Lehikoisen teoksissa, muttei koskaan ilman elämää. Lehikoinen on valmistunut kuvataiteilijaksi Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulusta 2017.

Instagram: __.hannam.__

 

🌑Edris Samani: The Floating Surge

The experience of human relationships, and turning inward to oneself and one’s memories in search of redemption, can lead to deeper isolation. Yet, this very isolation has the power to connect us to a collective feeling. The artworks in this collection explore the artist’s memories, dreams, and nightmares. They reflect stories from the subconscious and small, personal observations.

Nature is the mother of us all. It embraces cultures and holds humanity together. By returning to nature, we rediscover ourselves. Nature carries the memories of our childhood, much like the layers of our subconscious. Exploring nature is like venturing into the depths of the human spirit—into spaces that feel unreachable.

Visual art is a personal experience. For some, like myself, it is an escape from reality. For others, it is a journey into the subconscious and the hidden layers of the self. But sharing this experience transforms it into something collective—a light shining on hidden corners, inviting others to discover unseen truths.

This is an invitation—a call to live, to see, to cry, and to laugh together. Even for a brief moment, let us wander into each other’s thoughts, drift into the unknown, and let it flood over us. In this flood, perhaps we will find ourselves weightless, free, and suspended—if only for the blink of an eye.

Instagram: @edris.samani

 

🌑Valencik: The Shadow of Sound and Silence

The exhibition “The Shadow of Sound and Silence” reflects on the tragic events of 1944, a sorrowful chapter in Slovak history during World War II. In the narrative of the national struggle for liberation, November 19, 1944, is infamously known as “Bloody Sunday.” On this day, a German anti-partisan unit raided the northeastern village of Tokajík in the Stropkov district, executing 35 men from Tokajík and evacuees, with only two surviving. This heartbreaking incident marked its 80th anniversary on Tuesday, November 19.I dedicate this exhibition to honor the memory of the 33 lives lost that day.

This exhibition is not intended as an accusation or a trial but rather as a hope that humanity will steer clear of actions that diminish us as a species. All of my paintings are created through the lens of synesthesia, with the music that accompanies each piece serving as a vital source of inspiration. For these works, I have drawn upon the Alef Concerto for Violin
and Orchestra, composed by Pascal Manolios. This concerto features the Milanolo, a unique five-string violin custom-built by Jan Hus Bursik and his sons, Jan and Bronislav, specifically for the virtuoso Milan Pala. With its additional string, the Milanolo offers a sound that, while played like a conventional violin, resonates with the depth and warmth of a cello or viola.

I am a Slovak-born artist whose work bridges the worlds of sound and sight. The brand Valencik is not only my identity but also a representation of my family, father and grandfather, both artists. My grandfather was a painter persecuted during the totalitarian regime, and his struggles as an artist resonate with my own journey, which seeks to push boundaries and speak to the complexities of memory, loss, and resilience.

From a young age, my life has been shaped by the dual influences of music and painting. As a child, I was just as captivated by shapes and colors as I was by melodies and rhythms, a connection enriched by my experience of chromesthesia — a form of synesthesia that allows me to “visualize” sound. While I don’t see colors in the conventional sense, I perceive sound through a unique visual language of forms and shapes that evoke color-like sensations, creating a vivid, yet abstract, connection between music and art. My musical journey began at the age of six, when I first picked up the violin. Later, I expanded my studies to the double bass at the Conservatory of Music in Slovakia, I furthered my knowledge through advanced studies in classical and jazz music, as well as conducting, at the Janáček Academy of Music in the Czech Republic and the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien. With a strong foundation in both classical and jazz music, I’ve become a professional musician, but my journey has always been deeply intertwined with the visual arts. Both painting and music have been lifelong passions, intertwining to shape who I am today.

Instagram: @juraj_valencik

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