CRITICAL GALLERY: AARON HILTUNEN PAINTINGS

Aaron Hiltunen is a long-standing Turku painter born in Karjala (1926 in Salmi). He is an original, explosively bold expressionist, who deserves to be much better known than he is. We are proud to get to curate an exhibition of his broad oeuvre at the Critical Gallery.

The exhibition has been curated by the painter Susanna Vuorio, one of the founding members of the Critical Gallery:

“When I first found out about Aaron Hiltunen’s work – thanks to the late Erkki Pirtola – it blew my mind. What, who has done this?!

For the exhibition at the Critical Gallery, I chose paintings of people and subjects that deal with societal issues. I was especially impressed by the paintings depicting motherhood in Karelia. They got personally close to me, literally to my roots, as we have family roots in the same area of Karelia.

He has started painting in the 50s and 60s, first as a sideline to his main job. In the early times he was painting and drawing very sporadically, but he’s always put his whole essence to it, making no compromises and with an apparent great passion.”

Hiltunen didn’t get to concentrate on painting full-time until the 1980s when he retired from his job at the State Railways. A multi-faceted flood of paintings was born as a result. He has been painting works based on both perception and imagination. In some of his paintings he takes a firm stand on political issues, while in some others he plunges into interpreting the myths of Kalevala, for example. Painting, clearly, has been to him a holistic way of dealing with things. By painting, he ponders about what’s going on around him, the past and the future, and holds a mirror to what is
happening not only in his own life but in society.

Hiltunen’s art is born out of a wonderful combination of natural talent and skill acquired by rigorous practice. We believe his exhibition at the Critical Gallery will bring lots of joy to the public – and work as a great inspiration to painters younger than him.

Aaron Hiltunen’s paintings are a valuable continuation to a long tradition. For example Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938), Chaim Soutine (1893–1943), Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884–1976), Tyko Sallinen (1879–1955) and Yrjö Saarinen (1899–1958) are classics known by many.

Expressionism has sometimes been in fashion, sometimes not, but it has always had eagerpractitioners who have continued working even when they got no recognition. For example Maria Lassnig (1919–2014), Alice Neel (1900–1984) and Miriam Cahn (1949–) were not recognized until
advanced age – and now they have the status of a classic.

It is, thus, never too late: come and see the miracles of Aaron!

OTHER PROGRAM:

• EXHIBITION OPENING: Thursday 24.10.2024, at 18–20
• CRITICAL CLUB: EXPRESSIONISM Saturday 9.11.2024 at 1.00–2.00 pm
  This time Critical Club’s theme is expressionism. The topic is related to Aaron Hiltunen’s exhibition of paintings, which is on display in Critical Gallery in November 2024.

The speakers are Curator, Researcher, PhD Tomi Moisio from the Serlachius Museum, and Doctor of Fine Arts, Director, Writer Teemu Mäki.
Event is Finnish, but the speakers are willing to answer also questions presented in English. The event is open and the entry is free. WELCOME!

Critical Club is one of the activities of Critical Gallery: once a month, on a Saturday afternoon, we’ll have an event where a topic we think is important is investigated by the means of critical discussion and art.