BO HAGLUND / CANCELLED due to the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19It's Your Turn Now 14.3.2020 – 12.4.2020

La Jeunesse, 2019
gouache and ink on paper
150 x 113 cm

Bo Haglund’s latest artworks are full of surprises, transporting the viewer to an entirely new and enchanting dimension. It’s Your Turn Now shows us the unexpected, lead us deep into the undergrowth. Fantasy and realism may co-exist here but remain distinct and separate throughout.

The artist has sought to create a series of scenes or snapshots that feature a discontinuity between the setting on the one hand and the action that takes place there on the other. Haglund says the series fundamentally takes its cue from the premise that humankind can never fully understand nature as it truly is. The works in this exhibition are an attempt at the impossible, a quest by the artist to create a connection with the natural environment that surrounds him. Such an endeavour, however, is doomed to failure, it is the unresolved paradox that the artworks seek to explore.

“My paintings are rich in colour and figurative in their interpretation. They could be illustrations created for the purposes a story. Nature is always presented as a highly aesthetically pleasing experience, reminiscent of the sort of exquisite perfection you tend to see on wallpaper prints. The paintings are executed in gouache on paper, as I enjoy working with paper. It invites playfulness, an exploration of shapes and detail,” Bo Haglund says. Indeed, the paintings have a wonderful lightness of touch and positively brim with a happy sense of artistic and creative flow. The world they depict is gorgeously fairytale-like; not in a straightforwardly happy way but in a way that reflects the multi-faceted allure of storytelling itself. Bo Haglund fairytales are visually insightful fantasies, boundless in its freedom.

A 2016 visit to Rome brought Bo Haglund into contact with the famous paintings at Villa Livia. The illusionistic frescos created for the basement dining room create a garden-like feel. The artist has depicted astonishing and even strange visions: skeletons, mysterious heaps that appear to be made of organic matter, an artist at work or even a mobile phone hooked up to its charger.

As an artist, Bo Haglund has always sought to create his own personal mythologies, such as his comic character Stumphead. Although it may vary from exhibition to exhibition, his inimitable visual style is never not recognisable. This fluctuation is perhaps due to Haglund’s previous life as a set and costume designer – he is a master of storytelling with a keen eye for drama. His gouaches invariably come across as scenes from a play, dioramas of a sort, which allow viewers to gaze into a multi-faceted play that is both of a visual and textual kind.

It’s Your Turn Now has a highly personal feel to it, and the works feature male figures throughout. As cracks appear in the narrow mould that men are invited to embody, the representations we are presented with take on a more diverse guise, gain the power to address an altogether wider range of topics and emotions. The exhibition has a self-portrait-like dimension, powerfully revealing the diversity and range of the artist’s imagination.

Bo Haglund has painted his very own secret garden, where every fantasy, every desire, can be freely expressed. It is a cross between the locus amoenus, the pleasant place and the locus amorum, an altogether different place, where our most private and most hidden secrets can be unleashed and shared with others. The exhibition is like a comic strip or play, scene upon scene unfolding textless for our enjoyment; a visual extravaganza á la Bo Haglund.

Dr Juha-Heikki Tihinen


 
  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_THE_HERITAGE_POOL_2020

    The Heritage , 2020
    gouache and ink on paper
    150 x 113 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_THE_SHELTER_2019

    The Shelter, 2019
    gouache and ink on paper
    150 x 113 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_THE_COSTUME_2019

    The Costume, 2019
    gouache and ink on paper
    150 x 113 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_THE_TRANSFORMATION_2019

    The Transformation, 2019
    gouache and ink on paper
    143 x 106 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_LA_COUCHER_DU_SOLEIL_2019_20

    Le Coucher du Soleil, 2019-20
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_VIAGRA_FALLS_2020

    Viagra Falls, 2020
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_NATURE_STRIKES_BACK_2019-20

    Nature Strikes Back, 2019-20
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_SHOKING_HEAD_2019-20

    Smoking Head, 2019-20
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_ON_DISPLAY_2019

    On Display, 2019
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_STILL_LIFE_2019-20

    Still Life, 2019-20
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

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    It's Your Turn Now, 2020
    gouache and ink on paper
    190 x 250 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_LES_FLEURS_ETRANGES_2019-20

    Les Fleurs Étranges, 2019-20
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_THE_MISSION_2020

    The Mission, 2020
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_THE_CREATION_2_2019

    The Creation #2, 2019
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_THE_REMAINS_2019

    The Remains, 2019
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_JUU_EI_2020

    Yes-No, 2020
    gouache and ink on paper
    65 x 50 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_HAPPY_GARDENER_2020

    Happy Gardener, 2020
    gouache and ink on paper
    190 x 124 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_INFINITY_POOL_2020

    Infinity Pool, 2020
    gouache and ink on paper
    190 x 124 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_THE_GATHERING_2020

    The Gathering, 2020
    gouache and ink on paper
    150 x 113 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_THE_CREATION_2019

    The Creation, 2019
    gouache and ink on paper
    143 x 106 cm

  • haglund/2020/BO_HAGLUND_UNDER_COVER_2019

    Under Cover, 2019
    gouache and ink on paper
    150 x 113 cm

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    Because of, 2019
    ink and qouache on paper
    147 x 110 cm

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