PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY HIPPOLYTE
Kalevankatu 18 B, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Open: Tue-Fri 12:00-17:00, Sat-Sun 12:00-16:00 (Closed 13.5.2010)

7–30 May 2010
SARI VENNOLA
Paper Dolls

Artist Talk on Wed 12 April, at 5 p.m. (in Finnish). Welcome!
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Paper dolls are the most fragile of dolls. They become wrinkled and worn. They are carriers of memories, just like the wrinkles that tell the story of our experiences. You comes across paper dolls in old cardboard boxes that once used to hold new underwear. They have names written on the back: Terttumaija, Hannele Dee, Anneli Elisabeth, Rose Talvikki. Paper dolls are dreams of what one might become. They are coy, dazzling, they wear lovely dresses and ornamental hats.

Girls used to play with paper dolls before, and in the 20th century many magazines in Finland used to print paper dolls on their pages. As magazine supplements, paper dolls had a lot of coverage, and they reveal something about the view of women of the time. Our ideal of beauty is very much associated with age, with youth, whereas a typical figure of an old woman in our culture is the malicious witch who has magical powers. On the other hand, as she ages, a woman ceases to be an object of the gaze.

Paper Dolls is a series of works in which Sari Vennola has photographed aged ladies posing in charming underwear. Prior to stepping in front of the camera, the women have tried on all sorts of underwear and beautiful corsets, fluffy lacy things. This gives the photo session a sense of childhood dress-up games, girls trying on their mother's dresses and playing at being 'fine ladies'.

Next to the portraits, Sari Vennola has placed photographs of old, faded, but festive clothes. In the worn fabrics, seams and details, there lingers on a dream of a beautiful moment, and perhaps a tiny memory of the person.

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Sari Vennola (b. 1965) is a photographer from Helsinki who explores the themes of ageing and change in her work. Her previous series, Wall Flowers, mounted in Gallery Hippolyte in April 2007, presented residents of old people's homes. Sari Vennola has held several solo shows and she has participated in many group exhibitions. She graduated as a Master in Fine Art from the University of Art and Design Helsinki in spring 2008. www.sarivennola.fi

Sari Vennola, Äiti, 2009

For more information and press images, please contact:
Petronella Grönroos, exhibition co-ordinator / Photgraphic Gallery Hippolyte +358 9-612 33 44, firstname.lastname@hippolyte.fi