What (a) Colour

Colour is one of art’s key means of expression, operating within a register of perception, physical experience and cultural conventions. It has proven impossible to define it exhaustively, but the power of colour always tempts us to rethink. The exhibition features works from the collection of Turku Art Museum and explores how to interpret the meaning of colour in visual art in the light of recent art research. The gaze wanders across the spectrum of the Golden Age of Finnish art, modernism and contemporary art, showcasing over 60 works by 40 artists. The exhibition draws insights from theories in art, science and philosophy, and the texts also include thoughts on colour from the contemporary artists featured.

What (a) Colour brings together paintings, graphic art, photography, moving image and sculpture, all of which illuminate the essence of colour in their own ways. The selected works highlight the colour palettes typical of different eras, colour theories that influenced artists, material research into dyes, as well as the cultural, symbolic and emotional dimensions of colours, and exploring colour as both a tool for artists and as part of their personal expression and identity. Alongside the museum’s own acquisitions, works from the collections of Nils Dahlström, the Friends of Turku Art Museum and Lars Göran Johnsson are included, as well as an acquisition from the latest subcollection, Collection Lieto Savings Bank Foundation.

According to the latest scientific findings, colour equals light. Thus, the exhibition leads the viewer from soft darkness, through a grey gloom to dazzling sunlight and shining pure colours. What (a) Colour invites the viewer to regard colour in a new light, and to determine whether colour is an inherent property of the world or of the viewer. The exhibition encourages the viewer to experience how the body and the senses interpret colours, which are constantly born anew and in different guises based on the combined effects of the prevailing circumstances. It also leaves us to reflect on whether colour as such even exists, if we define it based on our subjective experience and as a creative act.

Artists featured in the exhibition:

Heini Aho, Petri Ala-Maunus, Göran Augustson, Väinö Blomstedt, Annika Dahlsten, Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Eeva-Leena Eklund, Magnus Enckell, Alfred William Finch, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Jussi Goman, Susanne Gottberg, Axel Haartman, Pekka Halonen, Jussi Heikkilä, Simo Helenius, Ole Kandelin, Sandra Kantanen, Johanna Ketola, Alexander Lauréus, Edwin Lydén, Ali Munsterhjelm, Juho Mäkelä, Otto Mäkilä, Jussi Niva, Yrjö Ollila, Roland Persson, Harvey Quaytman, Silja Rantanen, Satu Rautiainen, Jalmari Ruokokoski, Yrjö Saarinen, Santeri Salokivi, Rolf Sandqvist, Emma Sarpaniemi, Helene Schjerfbeck, Vilho Sjöström, Joel Slotte, Sam Vanni, Victor Westerholm.

Some of the artworks will be exchanged over the course of the exhibition due to the limited time that paper-based works can be on display.

The exhibition is curated by Turku Art Museum’s curators Mia Haltia, Selina Kiiskinen and Annina Sirén.