Past events

Opening on Thursday August 14 at 18-20

Clear is a selection of my recent paintings. I thought it would be a funny title, considering how my artistic practice so far has always been set against a backdrop of confusion and the absence of clarity.

I flood myself with digital images, which blend into something amorphous in my head and emerge again as figures, spaces or symbols inside my paintings. They go through my emotional filters and usually come out embodying a kind of nostalgia and escapism that I can't seem to shake off.

Miska Kukkohovi (b. 2001) is a Finnish visual artist based in Helsinki, currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in the painting department at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts.

I've always been afraid of snakes. When I was a child, I watched my steps on warm summer days since every stick and straw on the gravel road leading up to our home could have come alive, scaly and hissing. At nights I pictured vipers under or on the foot of my bed, between the sheets. More than the bite, I was afraid of encountering the snake, its presence in my sphere of experience.

Last summer I started driving school and had sleepless nights again. I had mental images of running over a pedestrian, causing a pile-up or making the slightest mistake, which could not only be dangerous but also embarrassing. One night I replaced these thoughts by recollecting every snake I had ever met, their colours, the patterns on their backs and sides, the coiling of their limbless bodies. Soon I was asleep.

The paintings in this exhibition portray fictionalized events from my life. The characters, me, my partner, my dog, and my friends, are recognizable but they also adopt different roles which express certain moods and meditations. Accompanying the characters are verdant plants, everyday objects and snakes showing up slithering, while the surroundings are bordered by walls and chain-linked fences. With each painting I have aimed for an intact whole which, through bright color combinations and expressive painting, radiates feverish and dreamlike ambience.

I try to find meaning from everyday things, thoughts and feelings through painting. I create connections between the portrayed elements by painting them to reflect the colors and light of each other and by employing here and there references to cultural history and art history. The central themes of the exhibition, emerging from my own life, are detachment from compulsive rationalization and rumination and opening up for the enchantment of the inexplicable in the world.

Maaria Jokimies (b. 1992) lives and works in Helsinki. Maaria graduated from the Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts in 2022 (MFA). Maaria’s works have been shown lately in HAA Gallery and Gallery Huuto in Helsinki, Studio Mältinranta in Tampere and Taidekeskus Purnu in Orivesi.

The exhibition is supported by the Finnish Art Society.

Due to a cancellation, Yö ry is looking for an artist or artist group to fill an available exhibition slot at short notice at Yö Galleria.

📍 Venue: Yö Galleria
🗓️ Exhibition dates: 15.–24.8.2025
🛠️ Installation: 12.–14.8.2025
🍷 Opening: 14.8.2025, 6–8pm

 🎨 Open exhibition or event format – all media welcome!

🔍 How to apply:

Submit a single PDF file including:

- a short exhibition proposal (max 1 page)
- images of works 
- CV or short bio
- contact information

📧 Send your PDF to: opencall@yory.fi
⏳ Deadline: July 23, 2025 at 23:59

✨ The selection will be made shortly after the deadline. Yö Galleria is a rent-free artist-run gallery that provides a platform to showcase novel and experimental art. The artist is responsible for installing and invigilating the exhibition.



 

Kalle Ahonen, Krista Blomqvist, Anne Kaski-Kløve, Laura Kopio, Johannes Länsiö, Anu Miettinen, Tanja Nyo, Henriikka Pöllänen, Seppo Renvall

Soft Nightmare is a conversation between contrasts, where one shouts and the other whispers. It is the meeting of shadow and light, a journey into the terrain between nightmares and something better. The theme collides seemingly incompatible objects, transforming assumed contradictions into possible harmony.

A group show, featuring members of the 2024 board of the Artists’ Association Yö, brings together works from nine artists at Yö Galleria. The expression ranges from video, photography, painting, and glass art. The exhibition’s theme, Soft Nightmare, can also be seen as a controversial metaphor for Yö’s diverse artistic community—a collective that is interdisciplinary, heterogeneous, ever-changing, eclectic, incomparable, unconventional, vibrant, multifaceted, and non-homogeneous. Yet, precisely because of this, it is radiant—like a dump in an oasis, and an oasis in a dump.

Image: Seppo Renvall

Friday 13 June 2025

Vernissage: Thursday, June 5, 2025, 6–9 PM

Henriikka Pöllänen, Riikka Haapasaari, EGS, Aleksi Marjamaa, Ella Varvio

The exhibition Transparent Language brings together five contemporary artists. Henriikka Pöllänen, Riikka Haapasaari, EGS, Aleksi Marjamaa, and Ella Varvio explore the conceptual and material potential of glass. Their methods, expressive languages, and backgrounds differ distinctly from one another.

Glass is seductive, shiny, dangerous, beautiful, and technically demanding. In the works presented, it functions as a tool for thought, a language that crystallizes in the form of sculpture, installation, video, as well as painting and drawing.

Each artist approaches glass from their own perspective, influenced by history either directly or through its deconstruction. This polyphony forms the core of the exhibition: through glass, each artist builds a language of their own.

Opening: Friday 23.5. 18.00-21.00

Elias Langi / Eetu Ronkainen / Lassi Kontiainen / Aarne Kivelä / Yoonsik Kim / Fredrika Lindeberg / Elias Castrén

Yö Fest vol. 5.2
Dopamiinidiskoväri
21.3.-30.3.2025

OPENING 20.3. 18-21

Krista Blomqvist, Heidi Halonen, Mimosa Isomäki, Pauliina Korpi, Moe Louanjli, Aleksi Marjamaa, M-L Muukka, Maaria Oikarinen, Isabel Pathirane, Pasi Pehkonen, Ilkka Pitkänen, Melina Alexina Rantanen, Paloma Bautista Sánchez, Helena Sorvali, Stidi-T, Joonas Turunen, Reetta Willberg

Yö Fest vol. 5 is a spring-long art celebration at Yö Galleria! The free multi-arts festival delights exhibition visitors with its abundant offerings.

Yö Fest vol. 5 is a free annual multi-arts festival containing a wide range of works from different art fields and authors. The works of Yö ry member artists have been curated into four group exhibitions with specific themes. The fifth part, focusing on the performing arts, culminates the festival in May. Come and experience art!

Yö Fest vol.5.1.

7.3.-16.3.2025

The first opening day of the Yö Fest 2025 group exhibition 6th March 6pm-21pm!

Yö Fest vol.5.1.

Katarina Alho, Andi Balogh, Soyoung Christina Chung, Sara Juvonen, Saara Kartimo, Mirka Keini, Anne Lumme, Kristiina Maria, Marianne Monto, MRSA, Ida Nisonen, Wieslawa Nowicka, Jani Rytkönen, Sofia Stupenkova, Barbara Tieaho, Milja Veini, Maiju Vigren