Napa Gallery & Shop blog moves!

Napa Gallery's shop blog moved to www.napagalleria.wordpress.com
Take a look and please sign in to our new mailing list there! Thank you!

New Kauniste tea towel design by Jenni Rope

Kauniste has printed a special tea towel for Jenni Rope's painting exhibition opening on October 27th! Limited edition of 50 towels! Available only at Napa Gallery & Shop.
www.kauniste.com

Finland Family Style!

The latest book from the Japanese publisher Paumes is Finland Family Style! Many beautiful homes from Helsinki designers, artists etc. Available from Napa on friday 22nd Oct!

Proximity Magazine #6 #7

Proximity is a magazine dedicated to contemporary art and culture.
Our mission is to amplify discourse on local and global art ecologies. We hope to serve as a map of artists, collectives and alternative spaces to commercial galleries, museums and universities ­as a means of connecting and cultivating sustainable creative communities.

Issue #6 explores the idea of (An)Other Art Worlds. Check here to view the table of contents.
Issue #7 is titled “A Catalog of Strategies. Check out the table of contents here.

WMD fanzine

The international post-graffiti collective WMD's fanzine (in size A3!) shows the best of the exhibition: Drawings, photos and paintings by more than 20 artists around the world including Honet, Petro, Egs etc. 48 pages in b/w

War of Words

War of Words available at Napa Gallery & Shop from September 29th!

Jonas Delaborde: Ffor #7

Jonas Delaborde is a french artist (Paris, 1981) working regularly in Paris and Lyon with his fellow Hendrik Hegray (they edit the nasty & absurd Nazi Knife zine together), Kerozen and Mehdi Hercberg (Shoboshobo) or with the drawing collective Frederic Magazine.
(Published by Nieves)

Ingo Giezendanner: Baku & Back

Baku & Back
Ingo Giezendanner (Zurich, Switzerland)

"This summer, inspired by a cultural exchange program with the Caucasus, I travelled by land from Zurich to Baku and back. My objective was to document the journey with pen on paper. Though the culture exchange eventually did fail, the experience was intoxicating to my pen and I. The drawings capture the gradual change of scenes from Switzerland through the former Yugoslavian states, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia before finally arriving in Azerbaijan (to travel back again just see the book backwards). This is my statement to go out, see the world and avoid airplanes. Take your time and enjoy the view on your train ride."

Ingo Giezendanner alias GRRRR, December '09

Since 1998 Ingo Giezendanner documents his surroundings with pen on paper. He produces zines, murals, books, exhibitions, video clips and maintains a website (GRRRR.net) to create his own world.

New Tatty Devines in the shop!

Here and There 9

The theme of the ninth issue of Here and There is HER LIFE. It deals with the various factors that make up the many waves in a woman’s life, such as working, becoming pregnant, giving birth. The colorful stories told by Elein Fleiss, Laetitia Bena, Yurie Nagashima, Miranda July, Midori Araki and Aiko Yamada, reflect each of their lives.

Nakako Hayashi writes: “There are various lives, various moments and various emotions. I wish to capture the ripples of emotion in our daily lives as seeds, right before they turn into fluff and float away. I wish to keep observing what grows from there. I guess this may be what I want to do with Here and There.”

SANPO is a Japanese word meaning walking around without purpose. The second feature SANPO includes writing by two Japanese artists; Kanehito Koganezawa and Shimabuku.

Terhi Ekebom: Voyage

Terhi Ekebom's new graphic novel Voyage (Napa Books) will be launched at Terhi's exhibition opening at Napa Gallery on wednesday September 1st from 6-8 pm. Welcome!

www.madeinhurry.com/terhi

Tommi Musturi by Le Dernier Cri

We got a few copies of a super silk screen book by Tommi Musturi, printed by the marseille-based crazy book makers Le Dernier Cri. Huh-uh... come and see it for yourself!

www.tommimusturi.com/
www.lederniercri.org

ARTIST INTERVIEW / Hai Club (Jenny Suhonen, Pauli Tapola, Iiris Kaarlehto)

How did the Hai Club get started?
Jenny: Me and Iiris are in the same course at Vapaa Taidekoulu, and Pauli was nearly graduated from the same school. One night we were sitting at school, trying to paint, but nothing would come. Then, we just decided to start drawing.

How do you create the collective works? Jenny & Iiris: We all start drawing at the same time. Usually we divide the pallet, and use different color markers and pencils. We draw for some time, then someone says "change", we rotate the paper in either direction and continue the work by drawing on top of one another. When the work is done, we can start a new one.




Are the results sometimes surprising, even to you? Jenny: Quite often, while we draw there aren't really any rules or instructions in mind and change during the process is perfectly acceptable.
Iiris: While working together associations arise which alone could take years to come across. Actually, collective drawing is really a game of association.



Have your works already incurred some sort of recognizable style? Iiris: These works frequently show bugs and people. Often the first to draw shows the bottom of something non-representational or a landscape, and the following artist uses that to create characters or modes.
Jenny: Drawings, which we do together, don't really bear any resemblance to any of our own individual work. In fact, they could have been made by one person. In the gallery people have asked us, who among us has done which drawings.
Iiris: While drawing we easily create a common feeling: if someone has a bad day, while drawing it can have a negative influence on the rest of us.
Jenny: But on the other hand it is often just the opposite: Draw a compelling view, and my bad feeling is forgotten.




What happens to the work after the show? Iiris: The most interesting thing about collective work is the process, so initially we thought that the completed work was not terribly relevant. Surprisingly, people have been excited about them and wanted to buy more work in varying combinations.
Jenny: For the gallery we presented work that showed world of color. Combining these works side by side has borne a fun narrative. It would be great to collect the works into some sort of book.

Hai Club exhibition was held at Napa 21.7.-1.8.2010

Coming up: Iiris Kaarlehto, Jenny Suhonen, Enni Suominen and Riika Saarinen at B-galleria, Turku, 5.2. - 27.2. 2011



Interview: Verna Kuutti
Translation: Edna Nelson

NAPA POP-UP VINTAGE CAFE is open!

Menu
Cappucino 2EUR
Espresso 1EUR
Pralines 1,30EUR
Box of Pralines 5 EUR

Lots of beautiful Finnish vintage glass, coffee cups and pots and fabrics for sale...

Open only for one month until 28.8.

Chocolate by www.chjoko.com

Napa appears in Wallpaper Helsinki Guide!

Kauniste kitchen towels

Kauniste makes beautiful kitchen textiles with prints designed by Matti Pikkujämsä and Leena Kisonen. Handprinted in Finland!

www.kauniste.com

Science Poems by OK Do

Science Poems book by the Helsinki-based design think tank OK Do explores the borderland between science, art and design.

The book includes e.g. the following stories:

- Interviews with MoMA design curator Paola Antonelli, director of Palais de Tokyo Marc-Olivier Wahler as well as designer duo Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby
- A talk about art with a philosopher of science on the topic of aesthetics of science
- A sci-fi short story by Maria Candia
- Articles about the Science Poems exhibitors
- OK Do's interpretation of natural science from the perspective of art and design
- Many illustrations and photos by emerging artists and designers

Science Poems Launch Party at Napa Gallery on 10th July from 6-8pm! Welcome!

www.ok-do.eu

Free magazines! No Past Today & Kuti 16

No Past Today is a brand new magazine in English and Finnish tackling the questions and issues that workers in the art and culture field are confronted with in their local and translocal environments. The magazine offers insider and outsider views on current dynamics that affect the culture system as a whole, and daily life in its details. No Past Today is a true science fiction. Supported by HIAP and Goethe-Institut Finnland.

http://windferreira.blogspot.com


KUTI16 / Summer 2010
Featured artists: Sami Aho (FIN), Marie-Pierre Brunel (FRA),
Manuel Gomez Burns (PERU), Roope Eronen (FIN),
Jyrki Heikkinen (FIN), Helmut Kaplan (AUT),
Yong-Deuk Kwon (KOR), Raine Liimakka (FIN),
Milla Paloniemi (FIN), Kari Sihvonen (FIN),
Edda Strobl (AUT), Mikko Torvinen (FIN),
Ville Vuorenmaa (FIN), Amanda Vähämäki (FIN),
Mikko Väyrynen (FIN) & Emelie Östergren (SWE).

http://www.kutikuti.com/

Spesial Nord Art Magazine

Spesial Nord, art magazine presenting artists from the Nordic countries. The artists in this #2 issue are: Karlotta Blöndal, Laura Wesamaa, Anna Rokka, Andreas Gavell-Mohlin, Viktor Rosdahl, Serina Erfjord, Victor Boullet and Ultra Grön. Editors: Christina Leithe Hansen and Iselin Linstad Hauge.

Graffiti books collection

We have a nice collection of graffiti books on our shelves now! The New York Street Art Coloring Book, Graffiti Tattoo: Kings On Skin etc. and this big one:

Beyond the Street
The 100 Leading Figures in Urban Art

Definitive book on street art featuring 100 key figures from around the world in their own words and images.

Beyond the Street is comprised of interviews with 100 key players in street and urban art from around the world, each of which is richly illustrated with inspiring images. Its impressive list of participants, as well as the unique diversity of their perspectives, makes the book an authoritative manual on these genres. For the first time, this 400-page tome brings together the direct points of view of leading artists and the most important sales outlets for street art as well as key commentators, collectors, and enthusiasts. Combined, these separate and distinct outlooks create a uniquely authentic collective portrait of street and urban art that is captivating, informative and entertaining.

Urban Interventions (Gestalten)

Urban Interventions
Personal Projects in Public Spaces

Evolving from graffiti and street art, urban interventions are the next generation of artwork to hit public space. Using any and all of the components that make up urban landscapes, these mostly spatial works bring art to the masses. They turn the street into a studio, laboratory, club, and gallery and challenge us to rediscover our environment and interact with it in new ways. This is the first book to document these very current, personal art projects in a comprehensive way. It shows the growing connections and interplay of this scene with art, architecture, performance, and installation as it turns public spaces into surprising and provoking individual experiences.

EGS T-shirts & bags

To celebrate the EGS exhibition, Grey Market teamed up with EGS to create a set of collaborative gear. The EGS pack includes a white tee shirt and tote bag featuring black ink EGS piece.

Kotori Kawashima: Mirai-chan

Tokyo-based artist Kotori Kawashima has made a really cute photo book of her daughter Mirai-Chan. We love it. www.kawashimakotori.com

Adios III

Edited by Konsta Ojala, Adios is a an artanthology that embraces wild street art, brutal fanzine culture and art as an alternative way of doing, experiencing and living. Artists: Germes, Mark Kuivanen, Janne Martola, Tommi Musturi, Samu Nyholm, Konsta Ojala, Sauli Sirviö, Timo Vaittinen ja Vilunki3000.

New Flipbooks from FLBLB (FR)

http://www.flblb.com

ARTIST INTERVIEW / Emmi Jormalainen & Reetta Niemensivu

Name: Emmi
 Jormalainen
Age: 30 

I live in: Helsinki 

I work in: Panama Studio in Kallio 

When I grow up I will be: A Cat Lady 

Things I like: bunnies, summer cottages, books
Things, which I do not like: hot weather, beer, evil 

The exhibition soundtrack is: Aksu, Eleanoora Rosenholm, Timo Räisänen 





Describe Reetta's comic book in three words:

Reetta's album is powerful, beautiful and emotional. 



Continue the sentence: I draw comics, because ... 
... It fascinates me how images and words co-create a story 
in the reader's mind. 



Why is it worthwhile to present a comic book at the gallery?
 Since cartoon characters also want to get outside from the book. 






How much does the story in this comic book draw from your own experiences? 
How were you able to empathize with a child's world? 
As a child I moved to a new place, and before I got good friends, I began to write letters. My foreign pen friends always sent cool stickers and photos that were not yet available in Finland.  I learned to draw so I could send them images in return. 
I think it is easier to look back in life than to write about the present moment. 



What are your sources of inspiration?
The comic books are rarely a source of inspiration when making comic books. 
Rather the inspiration comes from, literature, life and the surrounding visual 
culture.



What binds Veera-Anneli and Lempi stories? 
Longing for love and acceptance. 



And what unites Reetta and Emmi? 
We had been school friends for almost 10 years and drawing, 
drawing and drawing. 





Name: Reetta Niemensivu

Age: 30

I live in: Lahti
I work: Evenings 

When I grow up I will be: Veterinarian (Reetta 6 years old) 

Things I like: Un-hurried mornings, objects arranged according to color, stories

Things I don't like: Being in a rush, loud noise, wasps. 

The exhibition soundtrack is: Lonely accordion sounds from the dance pavillion and self recorded worn out c-cassettes. 



Describe Emmi's comic book in three words: 
Fluffy, sweet and sad. 



Continue the sentence: I draw comics, because ... 
... Pictures and words can be combined to tell stories that can not be shared in any other way. 



Why is it worthwhile to present a comic book at the gallery? 
At the gallery our comic book will get a new kind of reader / viewer. In a bookshop the book could get lost among all the other books.






How does the story get played out, it seems that the events described and the people are real? 

With storytelling I have set some limits: the reality-based beginning and end. In between I can improvise. The background material helps to provide inspiration and helps so that there is no need to invent everything from scratch.



What are your sources of inspiration? 
My inspiration comes from the process of working with seen, heard and found treasures.


What's binds Veera-Anneli and Lempi stories? 
Both are made with love. 



And what unites Reetta and Emmi? 
We both have birthdays in September. Maybe all the connecting factors, and similar items of interest can be explained!

Interview: Verna Kuutti
Translation: Edna Nelson

Toshiyuki's Coffee

The popular coffee pots by Toshiyuki Fukuda are available again! Kawaii!

Emmi Jormalainen & Reetta Niemensivu

The debut graphic novels by Emmi & Reetta were published last night at the opening of their exhibition at Napa. Congratulations girls! The books are now available at Napa, check them out.