BOOK LAUNCH:
TERO PUHA
Almost Human & Superhuman Special Edition
Fri 11 February 2011 at 17:00 h
Photographic Gallery Hippolyte
Kalevankatu 18 B, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
www.hippolyte.fi
Diana Ball, Esko Valtaoja and Maarit Verronen will join Tero Puha to discuss the book as well as future of body image and humanity (discussion in Finnish).
The winner of the book raffle will also be announced.
Free admission. Welcome!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Artist Tero Puha’s first book Almost Human will be launched at Photographic Gallery Hippolyte on 11 February 2011. The event also marks the release of Superhuman – a limited edition of 50 of a special edition of Almost Human. Presented in a metal bag, the limited edition also includes a signed, previously unpublished, pigment print by Puha from 1995. Superhuman will be sold at Hippolyte on the launch day at the special price of €89 (normal price €99).
The extensive volume covers Puha’s production from 1995 to 2010. The works presented in the book include Puha’s Pop Art pieces, his monochromatic studies of the body as well as video projects and installations. There are also numerous previously unpublished pictures. Essays in the book are leading Finnish art experts: Leevi Haapala, Livia Hekanaho, Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger, Leena-Maija Rossi and Annamari Vänskä. The book also includes an interview with the artist himself.
The book covers many controversial projects that over the years have both shocked and amused the public: The Shop of Basic Needs installation (1997) in Helsinki sold canned emotions and mental states. Man Gang Showroom (2001) offered consumers different male types with accessories, and Swap and Go Organ Fair (2003) marketed cloned body parts of movie stars for customers dissatisfied with their own body. The Love and Lust Museum project (1995–2010) was a tongue-in-cheek account of two fictitious B movie stars Linda Lust and Cheryl Love. The book also contains material from Puha’s latest short film projects.
“Tero Puha is one of the best-known artists in contemporary Finnish art. Puha typically incorporates consumer products and images from mass culture into his works. He is interested in the imageries of advertising, comics and the mass media that surround us, and merges them with imageries of fine art. His works analyse contemporary culture as a space where human existence is determined by brands, images, consumer products and logos, and where consumer products and brands are endowed with human characteristics.”
- Annamari Vänskä, postdoctoral fellow, University of Stockholm
BOOK RAFFLE:
By joining as a friend on Tero Puha’s Facebook page no later than 21:00 h on 10 February 2011, you are entered into a raffle where the main prize is a copy of the Superhuman special edition! Other prizes are CDs, postcards, etc.
www.facebook.com/teropuhavisualartist
See also: www.teropuha.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tero Puha: ALMOST HUMAN – works 1995-2010
Essays: Leevi Haapala, Livia Hekanaho, Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger, Leena-Maija Rossi & Annamari Vänskä
Languages: English, Finnish
Design and editing: Tero Puha
Hardcover, perfect bound, 204 pages, 230 x 230 x 25 mm
Publisher: Inky Robot Media
Published: 2011
ISBN 978-952-92-7900-5
Release offer: €35 (norm. €39)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tero Puha: Alhomst Human & Superhuman -special edition
Panellists:
Tero Puha (b. 1971 in Nurmijärvi, Finland) is a visual artist working with photography, video and digital art. In his artistic work, he often explores the life of the modern individual, focusing on body image, identity, gender roles and consumerism. Attempts to define the line between the natural and the unnatural are bound to create conflicts and pressures for the modern individual in search of identity and purpose in life. These are the sources of Puha’s inspiration.
Tero Puha graduated from the Imatra Institute of Art (1996) and subsequently graduated with an MFA from the University of Art and Design Helsinki (2000). Since then he has worked in Helsinki, London, Paris, Berlin and New York. His work has been exhibited internationally and can be found in the collections of several art museums.
Plastic surgery advisor Diana Ball worked for more than ten years as a professional wrestler and also performed in the world’s largest fetish events such as Torture Garden in London. Currently, Diana Ball is a studio host and researcher for Maria Veitola’s talk show Maria!
Esko Valtaoja is an astronomer, a science populariser and an art gallery handyman. He has published more than a hundred scientific papers in leading academic journals. A prolific writer of science books for the general public, he is the recipient of the Tieto-Finlandia Award for non-fiction, the State Award for Public Information, the Finnish Christian Book of the Year twice, and the Väinö Voipio Prize awarded by the Finnish Union of Freethinkers.
Maarit Verronen considers writing a lifestyle. She has been a full-time author since 1994. She worked previously as a teacher and researcher in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Oulu.
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
