Opening with the artist in attendance, September 14, 2017 at 5 pm–7 pm
Jussi Goman’s (b. 1980) Big bang vol.2 portrays the world 13.8 billion years after the beginning of the universe. Goman’s paintings portray the origins of life and the future through the lens of childhood nostalgia: the colors are very 1980’s – the era of neon-and-pastel windbreaker suits and explosive special effects in the vein of Back to the Future and Star Trek. Topical social commentary also rears its head in his recent paintings. The torch is a new motif that appeared in Goman’s oeuvre the day after Donald Trump won the US presidential elections. The torch-bearing Statue of Liberty has always been a symbol welcoming migrants to the US, but in the Trump era, it has become tainted with divisive symbols such as barbed wire and the Mexico Wall.
The imaginative use of acrylic paint in the fine details of still lifes and facial portraits is among the signature features of Goman’s paintings. Globs of acrylic chewing gum add dynamism to his seemingly simply motifs, disrupting the two-dimensional surface. In his recent works Goman has also experimented with collage: he spray-paints gel sheets and then cuts them into shape and glues them onto the canvas, providing a vehicle for richer, more diverse use of his paints, while also introducing a new sharpness and playfulness to his compositions. This exhibition also marks the debut of Goman’s paper collages, which strike up a dialogue with his canvas paintings.
Goman’s work is found in the collections of major Finnish museums including the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Helsinki Art Museum HAM and the Saastamoinen Collection. The artist lives and works in Riihimäki.