"Ismo Jokiaho: Remains of Beauty"
2006-08-24 until 2006-09-13
Galleria Mystic
Jyvaskyla, , FI Finland

Ismo Jokiaho is a Finnish artist whose works and paintings can be seen in many Finnish galleries and exhibitions. Ismo Jokiaho was born in Saarijarvi, in central Finland in 1965. Nowadays he lives and works in Tampere. His paintings are now for the first time in an exhibition in the City of Jyvaskyla. This exhibition is a brief introduction to Jokiaho's paintings created between the years 2004 and 2006. Many of the pictures and paintings in this exhibition are widely Zen influenced works. This influence became very common and widespread in western art in the late 19th century. There are of course many different degrees of Zen influence, some only formal and some very deep, which extend beyond the formal artistic potential to uncover the philosophy behind that art and brushwork.

The exhibition is divided to two different parts. First there are the traditional modernist style oil paintings with eastern motifs included in them. Second there are for example traditional eastern style Ink paintings and calligraphy together with haunting and pure Finnish landscapes. The artist himself calls his paintings as hybrids of eastern and western styles.

Many modern artists have a great struggle to become themselves. Human ego and forever rationalizing mind does not give up control easily, which is the first thing to do in trying to "understand" zen art and paintings. In Zen paintings does not show any signs of struggle, only pure and free spontaneity. The art and artist becomes as one. Ismo Jokiaho is one those artists too.

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