Samppa Törmälehto
1977, Rauma
painting
The Finnish painter Samppa Törmälehto stands out from the crowd of ‘new’ painters by virtue of his erratically haphazard and uncompromising virtuosity, which places him historically alongside such auto-didactic artists as Rainer Fetting, Don van Vliet and even the ‘unconventional’ painters of 17th century China like Chu Ta and Shih Tao. Törmälehto directly takes issue with the tired conventions of art and of modern life, and in drawing, colouring and sculpt- ing in a seemingly random way casts a fast wry glance at the condition of the 'floating world’.
Like much of his works the paintings in this exhibition occupy the uneasy space between figuration and abstraction, each one seeming to suggest a strange narrative which the artist seems unconcerned to fully reveal, leaving context and meaning open to interpretation.
Alan Rankle
curator
"To Serve and Protect". size 140x160cm. Acryl on canvas
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