Johanna Ehrnrooth: Chrysalis

Chrysalis – A Retrospective Exhibition fills Kunsthalle Helsinki with Johanna Ehrnrooth’s paintings.

Johanna Ehrnrooth (1958–2020) studied fine arts at L’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, where she graduated as a visual artist in 1983. She made her breakthrough in Finland in the 1990s through her cinematic paintings, which examined reality through fragmented reflections.

In the 2000s, the color scheme of here paintings brightened, and folding screens became an important part of her artistic practice. In addition to the direct influence of Japanese art, French-filtered Japonisme could also be found in her work. The dialogue between the external and the internal, as well as themes of the gaze and alienation, have been part of the artist’s approach throughout the decades.

In her final years, Ehrnrooth moved further away from narrative painting, and her late works shifted into playful, bold compositions, where figuration is rather suggested, like dancing on the painted surface.

The exhibition is curated by Julie Sylvester.