PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY HIPPOLYTE
Kalevankatu 18 B, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi

KATERINA MISTAL
Fear of Landscape
4–27 April 2008
Open: Tue-Fri 12–17, Sat-Sun 12–16

A panel discussion will be held in the gallery on Tuesday, 22 April, at 17.00h under the topic
"The Threatening Image".
The panelists are Hille Koskela, Katerina Mistal, Teemu Mäki and Harri Pälviranta.
(discussion in english)

Katerina Mistal's landscapes contain a hidden violence which is hard to define. There are guns of all kind both in her photos and her installations, yet the pictures are far removed from the violence of action films or news reports.

Guns are merely present in the works, they appear to be just as natural elements of their setting as a fishing rod or a tennis racket might be. This makes the imminent violence in them merciless and silent, almost natural. What is happening in these romantic settings and architecturally elegant spaces? Is it self-defence or evil? Threat or exercise? Fact or fiction? The works often show us both the victim and the perpetrator, often together. Perhaps in the heart of hearts it is the perpetrator who is the real victim. It seems as if the artist were asking: Can we make inferences based on just a single moment? Is it possible to understand violence?
 
The persons in Katerina's pictures are often children or young adults. A child in the role of an adult, or an adult carrying the burden of a child within – the tables seem to turn, the roles become layered. The children in Katerina's works are never depicted as small, sweet creatures. Instead, the pictures underline their humanity, the untouchability and smallness of each and every one of us. Together we can control the situation, yet the very next moment we may already be lost.

From JAKT I by Maria Lantz (excerpt)

The exhibition is sponsored by
The Swedish Embassy in Helsinki, Finnish-Swedish Cultural Fund, Culture Administration of the City of Stockholm.
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Katerina Mistal uses photography and installation as the main media of her conceptual work. Mistal's artistic background is in painting and documentary photography, and she is particularly interested in social issues. Katerina Mistal lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. www.katerinamistal.com
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From series Jakt II, 2007

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For further information and press images, please contact:
Petronella Gronroos, exhibitions co-ordinator / Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, +358 9 612 33 44, firstname.lastname@hippolyte.fi