The exhibition consists of paintings by two young upcoming Finnish artists who have drawn a lot attention with their uncompromising way of depicting the human body and condition in the contemporary world. Some of the many topics they both deal with are issues of identity, the relation with oneself and others and a struggle for existence.

Both artists though working separately have similarities in use of color and in the way of presenting the subject in the tradition of figurative art. Their works share emotions of withdrawn aggression and solitude.

The works of this exhibition bring the viewer to a disturbingly intimate standpoint. Though the works are presenting figures from a seeming distance, one is drawn to cross a border of discrepancy and privacy.

Ninna Korhonen`s paintings deal with parenthood and family structures. The paintings are based on family photos. The figures are first painted, then scratched and wiped out as if to bring the inside out of each figure. The works deal with the contradictory feelings and fragility within a family. Sara Toivonen`s paintings are more subtly painted but carry the same intimacy and silent aggression. Her paintings are based on old medical archive photos. She is interested in dealing with the way the figures are positioned and exposed in the photos rather than the actual sicknesses them selves. Her works deal with the delicate relation between intimate and public space.

The artists want to challenge the view of contemporary media as representing humans as all enduring super-beings. In the view of the artists this leaves one with very little choices to be an individual or to decide over ones own life. Ninna Korhonen and SaraToivonen want to make the viewers look at humanity as a value in itself with its weaknesses and strengths, which often lay much deeper as one wants to see.

Ninna Korhonen b.1976 works and lives currently in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. She has studied in the Free Art School, Staedelschule, Hochschule fuer Bildende Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany and in the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, Finland from where she graduated with a Masters degree in Fine Arts in august 2004. She has had private exhibitions and participated in various group exhibitions in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.

Sara Toivonen b.1975 works and lives in Kerava, Finland. She has graduated from the Free Art School, Helsinki in the year 2000 with a higher diploma in painting. Since her graduation she has had various private exhibitions in Finland, Germany and Estonia and has participated in group exhibitions in Finland and abroad.

Both of the artists have works in important collections in Finland.

The artists have collaborated before in 2002 in Pukkila, Finland by building an installation together in an old wooden house.