PRESS RELEASE

Stalke Galleri is excited to announce

Tiina Elina Nurminen
&
Identity is a faraway dream, you can buy tomorrow
paintings by Ann Sophie Stærk.

It is the second time that Stalke Gallery showcases the Finnish painter Tiina Elina Nurminen, who earlier this year participated in the group show Stop for a moment – painting as presence at the Arken Museum of Modern Art.

At first glance, Nurminen’s paintings present themselves as continuations of an abstract tradition in which the characteristics of the medium—the working of the surface and the qualities of color—are the focus. They create a distinct visual and sensual presence. But if you allow yourself and your eyes a little more time, fragments or suggestions of figurations appear. The abstraction reveals other potentials beyond formal self-referentiality. A narrative potential? Perhaps. For the potential is never fully resolved. It remains indefinite yet concise, like memories, associations, emotions, or impressions—states of mind, you might say.

In this way, the surface becomes charged with something intangible, an abstraction of a psychological nature, which grows more insistent the longer you look. Nurminen’s paintings explore this second abstraction as their condition.

In the project room, Stalke Gallery will present a series of paintings by Ann Sophie Stærk, who last year participated in two well-received exhibitions: Quirky Girls at Horsens Art Museum and ALIBI – Alle lever i byens igloer (Everyone Lives in the City’s Igloos) at The Free Exhibition Space.

The title of Stærk’s project, Identity is a faraway dream, you can buy tomorrow, reflects her merging of existential reflections and the logic of consumer culture. Titles are a vital element of her works. Her paintings offer suggestive commentary on the picture plane, where a mix of traditional or everyday motifs and lightly psychedelic, pop-colored patterns catch the eye.

They create an ironic, bittersweet distance between what is seen and what is said, pointing to a deeper connection between a dreamlike universe and reality—between the media-driven world of opportunities and a personally experienced reality. In this way, Stærk’s paintings ask: Is the perfect lifestyle truly the perfect life?

Tiina Elina Nurminen

Ann Sofie Stærk

Painting
Appetizing Painting

Tiina Elina Nurminen and Ann Sophie Stærk. Stalke Gallery, Vesterbrogade 184, Copenhagen. Until June 28.

The young Finnish artist Tiina Elina Nurminen’s paintings are both vibrant and sensual. At first glance, they appear monochromatic and highly figurative, but on closer inspection, they are far more varied. Silver spray paint colors the canvases from different angles, letting subtle tones emerge and drawing the viewer into the work, while other layers, such as splashes of paint or fine lines of drips, sit like a veil between the viewer and the rest of the painting.

Nurminen’s works are never content to remain on the surface, instead offering new layers and meanings with each viewing. Her works have an ability to simultaneously radiate strength and vulnerability, and while they are distinct in their expression, they leave room for interpretation.

At Stalke Gallery, Nurminen’s works are shown alongside Ann Sophie Stærk’s expressive paintings. Together, the two artists’ works reflect a keen sense of expressionism with a deep connection to art’s tactile and sensory qualities. While Nurminen may not yet be of the same caliber as

Stærk, she still possesses significantly more weight and originality, and her works glitter in titles that seem taken directly from a personal diary.

Trine Ross

politiken