Stream of Red Books – Finnish Esoteric Art
Ulla Karttunen: Red Bibles (2011)
I have always admired Hugo Simberg (1873-1917) and his focus on themes of life and death. But I had not earlier seen a small painting by Simberg, The Stream of Life / Elämän virta (oil on panel, 1896), a work that was presented at The Path to Hidden Knowledge / Salatun tiedon tie at Villa Gyllenberg last autumn.
Hugo Simberg: The Stream of Life (1896)
I was touched to find in Simberg’s work a boat loaded by red books. Or books that at least in the dark exhibition hall looked red. They might be seen as brown also, as in the other version (gouache & watercolour) of the work, presented at the net site of The Finnish National Gallery but that is not so important.
For me letters or books that speak about dark and heavy existential questions are always red.
Simberg’s work reminded me of my obsessions. Many of my works contain red or golden scriptures, or refer to red books or letters of alphabet. That might be obvious for someone like me, for whom mystic’s tears of blood have been an important symbol. Or what is to write with your own blood, with your deepest existence. Or what it is to write down messages dictated to you, messages that some could call divine, but not you, who still try to be an eternal sceptic and free spirit.
some more works with red books or glowing letters:
details of scripture works by Ulla Karttunen
detail of Eye of the Letter (2019) by Ulla Karttunen
details of scripture works by Ulla Karttunen
detail of The Madonna of the Nightly Signs (2011) by Ulla Karttunen
details of scripture works by Ulla Karttunen
Read more about the philosophical backround of these mysterious letters from the book ’Ulla Karttunen, A Modern Mystic’, published by The Joensuu Art Museum, documenting artist’s retrospective solo exhibition at the museum.
book cover ’Ulla Karttunen, A Modern Mystic’
The Eye of the Letter (2019) by Ulla Karttunen
The Path to Hidden Knowledge
One of the most impressive and important exhibitions this autumn has been The Path to Hidden Knowledge / Salatun tiedon tie at Villa Gyllenberg in Helsinki. The exhibition, curated by Nina Kokkinen, researches esotericism and occultism in Finnish art 1890–1950.
The exhibition presented artworks by Finnish artists interested in esotericism, from wellknown Finnish masters like Helene Schjerfbeck, Hugo Simberg or Akseli Gallen-Kallela, to more unknown names like Meri Genetz or Ilona Harima.
details of the exhibited works from top to down: Oscar Parviainen, Ilona Harima, Helene Schjerfbeck
Today’s Advent Calendar from London
”How did contemporary artist Ulla Karttunen manage to stay inspired despite such a fractitious year?” asks Advent Calendar, created by the Finnish Institute in London, an expert institution on culture and society, today 14th December 2020. The institute asked artists from different fields whom they would recommend as a sourse of inspiration this year. The calendar is visible in Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
My answer was my long time favorite, Hilma af Klint:
”Fresh, esoteric, philosophical, visionary, radical pioneer, and unknown for years even though today seen as the founder of abstract art – all this was Swedish visual artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944).
In 2020, Hilma af Klint became topical with the impressive documentary “Beyond the Visible – Hilma af Klint”, directed by German film-maker Halina Dyrschka. The book ”Hilma af Klint – Visionary”, edited by Kurt Almqvist and Louise Belfrage, was also published in 2020.
As an esoteric and philosophical artist myself, I have for years been inspired by Hilma’s art, and in 2013 I was lucky enough to see her big exhibition at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.
For almost a century, it was thought that modern abstract art was a male project that began with Kandinsky and Mondrian. But an exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2018 and widespread international interest led to the recognition that this female mystic, af Klint, was there first.”
Retrospective of Hilma af Klint at Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Contest Winner & Coronavirus Art Exhibition
Artist Ulla Karttunen, with her digital painting Blind Spot Society III, is selected one of the award-winning artists and for the show in the themed contest ”Art in the time of Coronavirus and Social Distancing”, November 2020.
The exhibition, curated by Myrina Tunberg Georgiou and organised by the Circle Foundation of Arts, Lyon, France, presents the winning works at the foundation’s site: circle-arts.com
A detail of Blind Spot Society III, by Ulla Karttunen. The work is from year 2012, so it is created years before the coronavirus pandemic.
In The Red Flow
In the Red Flow (2020) by Ulla Karttunen
As many exhibitions and projects, the ARTBOX.PROJECT Barcelona 1.0 has been postponed because of the pandemic, in the moment until May 2021.
In the meantime, the artworks of the show are presented digitally in the ARTBOX.GALLERY Zürich, from September until November 30, 2020.
The digital collage In the Red Flow by Ulla Karttunen is also displayed at this gallery show.
ARTBOX.GALLERY Giessereistrasse 1, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland; 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Tuoksu on filosofiaa
The Perfume of Being II (2020) by Ulla Karttunen
Olemassaoloa ei voi mitata. Aika tai avaruus, tuotokset tai saavutukset, eivät lopulta määritä olemista.
Olemisen paino todentuu hetkessä ja sen aistimuksellisuudessa. Hetkeen uppoutuminen tuottaa vertikaalisen äärettömyyden, josta todistaa yksin häivähdys, kiinnisaamaton tuoksu. Todellinen oleminen tapahtuu tiukkojen rivien ja selkeiden kirjausten ulkopuolella. Lähestytään alitajuisen ja ylikosmisen hataraa murtumavyöhykettä; yksityisen ja yleisen hajottua aikoja sitten mustaan, tai harmaaseen, aukkoon.
Olemisen aistimisessa, itsen tai muiden, ajan tai avaruuden, voi luottaa vain tuoksuun. Ei minkäänlaista varmuutta, ei minkäänlaista todistetta, ainoastaan olemisen parfyymi.
Heidegger kirjoitti ”Kieli on olemisen talo. Ihminen asettuu siihen asumaan.” Kieli olemisen talona viittaa siihen, että olemassaolo on ensisijaisesti runollista. Mutta ehkä suhde todellisuuteen on vieläkin aistillisempi ja juuri runollisuudessaan myös sanaton. Haju ja kosketus olivat liian pitkään filosofialta kadoksissa olevia aisteja. Ehkä voisimme sanoa: parfyymi ovat olemisen totuuden talo.
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Digitaaliset maalaukset The Perfume of Being I ja II (© Ulla Karttunen 2020) ovat esillä ADAF2020 -taidemessuilla digitaalisten teosten osastolla. Kymmenes editio hollantilaisesta taidetapahtumasta tapahtuu World Fashion Centre -keskuksessa Amsterdamissa 9-11. lokakuuta 2020.
Fragrance is a philosophical thing
The Perfume of Being I (2020) by Ulla Karttunen
You cannot measure existence. Time or space, outputs or achievements, cannot determine being.
The weight of being is determined in the moment and in its sensuality. Immersing yourself in a moment creates vertical infinity, evidenced just by a hint, an unattached scent. Real being happens outside of strict lines and clear records. We are approaching the fragile fracture zone of the subliminal and overcosmic level; after private and public disappeared times ago into a black, or grey, hole.
In sensing being, of oneself or others, of time or space, one can only rely on the scent. No certainty of any kind, no proof of any kind, just a perfume of being.
Heidegger wrote ”Language is the house of being. In its home human beings dwell.” Language as the house of being refers that existence is primarily poetic. But perhaps the relationship to reality is even more sensual and in all its poetics also speechless. Smell and touch were too long senses hidden from philosophy. Maybe we could say: Perfume is the house of the truth of the being.
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Digital mixed media paintings The Perfume of Being I and The Perfume of Being II by Ulla Karttunen are featured at ADAF 2020 art fair in Amsterdam, in the digital presentation section. The 10th edition of this Dutch art fair takes place in the World Fashion Centre WFC Amsterdam from 9th to 11th October 2020.
ADAF2020 opens on Friday
ADAF2020 art fair opens on Friday 9th October at World Fashion Centre Amsterdam. Open on weekend 11.00 -17.30, World Fashion Centre / Beursplaza / Koningin Wilhelminaplein 13 / 1062 HH Amsterdam. The ADAF is organized by
De Kunst Collega’s B.V. in Roermond, The Netherlands. 
Toisin silmin
Mistä teos Yön silmä, valon silmä (© Ulla Karttunen 2020, esillä Swiss Art Expossa Zürichissä) kertoo? Se puhuu näkemisestä, jonka on käytävä ei-tiedon pimeyden kautta. Se puhuu valosta, jonka yö kätkee itseensä. Se puhuu etsijän tiestä.
Se kertoo myös siitä, miten ihmisen ei tule jäädä päivänvalon ansaan. On hajotettava persoonan sosiaalinen harhakuva: hylättävä kunnia, suorittaminen, viihtymisen pakkomielle, luulo todellisuuden hallitsemisesta. Yön silmä, valon silmä viittaa tehtävään, jota monet uskonnot hipaisevat, usein sitä saavuttamatta: itsen menettämiseen jumalalliselle.
Moniin näistä teemoista mystikko Rumi oli perehtynyt. 1200-luvulla elänyt persialainen runoilija, teologi ja suufimystikko kirjoitti usein silmistä, jotka näkevät ja eivät näe. Tai kirkkaudesta, jonka on käytävä pimeyden kautta. – Rumin on sanottu olevan 800 vuotta edellä aikaansa. Rumin tekstit koskettavat nykypäivän post-uskonnollista aikaa ja sen pyrkimystä liuottaa uskontojen raja-aidat ja niihin pohjaava väkivalta. Rumin ekstaattiset runot yhdistävät leikillisyyden, viisauden ja intohimoisen antaumuksen.
Todellisuuden näkeminen saattaa vaatia että astut pimeyteen. Uudenlaiset värit, toisenlainen valo voivat läpäistä rajoittuneen inhimillisen näkökyvyn. Itsen katoaminen tekee tilaa toisenlaiselle selkeydelle ja kirkkaudelle.
Ulla Karttunen: Eye of Night, Eye of Light (2020)
a detail of Fatal But Red (2019) by Ulla Karttunen, with a Rumi quote
Coming soon: ADAF in Amsterdam
ADAF2020 will take place in Amsterdam from 9th to 11th October 2020. This year’s art event will be the 10th edition of the Annual Dutch Art Fair, presenting over 150 professional artists from over 15 countries. New digital paintings by the Finnish artist Ulla Karttunen are featured in the digital section of the show.
