A portrait project is a series of portraits painted by artist Jarkko Rantanen, consisting of over a hundred paintings of different people in the midst of their everyday lives. The portraits were painted between 2021 and 2023. The starting point for the series was Rantanen’s desire to paint from live models. The models were asked to arrive as their everyday selves. Rantanen wanted to see the model’s personality and let it influence the painting process. In most of the portraits, the models are seated on the same chair in the artist’s studio.
Rantanen started painting the series while the second wave of the covid-19 pandemic was shutting down parts of society. Initially, his colleagues served as models. The project then began to spread through social media, and soon unknown people of different ages and backgrounds modelled for portraits. For Rantanen, it was important to capture both the likeness and the essence of the model, as well as their current emotional state, all of which influenced the final result. “The paintings are a documentation of a social and always interesting encounter. No session was like any other,” Rantanen concludes.
The portraits are mainly painted in oil on various materials such as fabric, wood, plexiglass and aluminium composite board. The different painting surfaces give the series variety. For example, the visible brushstrokes on the composite board become an important part of the quick painting process. The works are full-length portraits. The painting process for each work took 2-3 hours. Rantanen aimed for the works to be alla prima (painted in one session). In some cases, he completed the paintings with the aid of photographs.
About the artist
Artist Jarkko Rantanen (b. 1980) lives in Piikkiö and works in Turku. His latest solo exhibition in Turku was at Galleria Joella in 2020. Rantanen’s previous artistic theme has been landscapes, especially forests. In addition to private collections, Rantanen’s works can be found in the Aine Art Museum, Salo Art Museum, and in the collections of the Cities of Turku and Naantali.
The project was kindly supported by
The Finnish Cultural Foundation / Varsinais-Suomi Regional Fund
The Finnish Cultural Foundation / Central Fund
Artist’s website
jarkkorantanen.net
EVENTS DURING THE EXHIBITION
15/07 at 12 pm – 15 pm, Old Great Square | LIVE PAINTING | Jarkko Rantanen
Artist Jarkko Rantanen paints a portrait on the Old Great Square. The artist talks about his exhibition and about the portrait-painting process while painting the portrait.
16/07 at 12 pm – 15 pm, Old Great Square | LIVE PAINTING | Jarkko Rantanen
Artist Jarkko Rantanen paints a portrait on the Old Great Square. The artist talks about his exhibition and about the portrait-painting process while painting the portrait.
13/08 at 13 pm – 15 pm, Iso Galleria, Kunsthalle Turku | MEET & GREET | Jarkko Rantanen
A chance to meet artist Jarkko Rantanen and talk about his exhibition.
17/08 (Night of the Arts) at 13 pm – 16 pm, Iso Galleria, Kunsthalle Turku | LIVE PAINTING | Jarkko Rantanen
Artist Jarkko Rantanen paints a portrait in the gallery space. The artist talks about his exhibition and about the portrait-painting process while painting the portrait.
26/08 at 13 pm – 14 pm, Iso Galleria, Kunsthalle Turku | VIEWING ART THROUGH DISCUSSION | Salla Keskinen leads a discussion about Jarkko Rantanen’s exhibition
This is an event where we look at Jarkko Rantanen’s portraits and talk about them using the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) method. The method is an excellent way to slowly immerse oneself in art, and discuss it without pressure. This is not a traditional guided tour. Instead, VTS coach, artist and art educator Salla Keskinen leads the discussion with simple questions. Anyone with an interest in art can participate, no prior knowledge is required.
