Outi Koivisto (s.1982) käyttää kuvanteon välineenä vesiväripuupiirrosta ja mehiläisvahaa.

Hän kuvaa levottomuutta ja epävarmuutta sekä onnen ja tasapainon etsintää – haavekuvaa pysyvyydestä ja turvallisesta mummolasta.  Hän kuvaa näkemiään ja mielen muokkaamia yksityiskohtia, missä todellisuus ja haavekuvat kohtaavat. Samalla hän pohtii, mitä on todellisuus ja kuka sen määrittää.

Ensimmäisen yksityisnäyttelynsä Napa Galleriassa pitävä Koivisto on valmistunut Pekka Halosen akatemiasta vuonna 2009 ja osallistunut sen jälkeen yhteisnäyttelyihin, mm. Nuoret taidegraafikot ja Taiteilijat 2010. Hän toimii luottamustehtävissä Suomen Taidegraafikoiden liiton johtokunnassa.

Avajaisia juhlimme ti 7.2. klo 18–20, tervetuloa!

Napa Gallery welcomes everybody over for a Tea Party on Friday, Feb 3, at 12–6PM! We’ll be celebrating the closing party of January’s artist Yasushi Koyama (JPN) as well as the Helsinki World Design Capital 2012 events by Napa. Over a cup of tea you will get to meet  Yasushi and Napa’s girls chatting and answering questions about up-and-coming projects!

Here’s a little taster of the WDC-year projects we’re doing:

Fontwalk/ Spring 2012

The starting point of the walk is the map available from Napa Gallery from 25th April 2012. The reader of the map does not know the finishing point and will be surprised during the route not only by fonts in the city, but interesting details often left unnoticed in our urban environment.

Yellow City/ All year

A series of exhibitions called ‘Yellow City – illustrated stories from Helsinki’ is based on a book with the same title combining illustrations and literature, to be published in early 2012. For the book project, 17 illustrators from Napa Illustrations Agency invited a Finnish author whose text they wanted to illustrate. ‘Yellow City’ is organised by Napa Illustrations Agency.

Bookies / April 2012

Bookies is a seminar on artist and designer-led publishing as a vehicle for artistic expression and mode of distribution of contemporary art today. By exhibitions, talks and discussions by key figures in the field, Bookies will give the audience a comprehensive idea of the current shifts in independent art publishing and its design that are shaping the ways we experience contemporary art. Napa Gallery will present exhibitions by Nieves (CH) and Scrollster (UK/CAN).

You can find more information on our WDC2012 projects here! See you next Friday!

In the Beginning it was Humid  is the fourth Nieves publication of Bastien Aubry and Dimitri Broquard. Inspired by outsider art and handcrafts; in recent years they’ve been making ceramic works which are now featured in this artist book. The two work for various art and cultural institutions and their design studio FLAG, among many things, creates drawings and illustrations for both corporate and private projects. Delightful and humorous, I say!

Published by Bongout, Bora Bora is a collection of works by Belgian Laurent Impeduglia. His contemporary paintings with surreal landscapes are narrative, symbolic and always include humor. Supermen saying “Amen”, chimneys with rainbow smoke  – there’s always something you missed at the first glance!

Jaakko Pallasvuo‘s second comic book, Some Approaching End from Landfill Editions is a story about two young adults trying to find a way to be less confused. Beautiful pencil drawings as always – edition of 250!

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Laurent Impeduglia’s works, along with Misaki Kawai‘s and Michael Swaney‘s works (to name a few) can be seen in Riihimäki Art Museum’s exhibition Fun! this spring!

Books by all of the artists mentioned above can be found at Napa! Lots of books on SALE as well, so don’t miss this!

We received some copies of Paul Kuimet‘s (EST) In Vicinity, published by Lugemik! The book is a compilation of Kuimet’s photographic series of the same name, documenting the development of  new suburban areas around Tallinn, from former kolkhoz farming lands to residential areas.  These observations of landscape and space mirror the changes of ideals and dreams of Estonian society. As a foreword, Mari Laanemets has written an interesting essay Homes For Estonia to accompany Kuimet’s quiet, even melancholic, approach to the subject. Numbered edition of 300!

Photos by Anu Vahtra.

Napa Gallery presents art exhibitions ranging from illustration and photography to painting and graffiti. Napa is especially interested in exhibition applications that use the gallery’s unique space in a new way. Also we encourage ideas for additional workshops or happenings related to your exhibition.

Napa Gallery & Shop first opened it’s doors  in 2007. In 2011 we founded a non-profit gallery society to support the gallery. The exhibitions will be chosen by the Napa Gallery Society’s board: Tuovi Eskola, Marjo Granlund, Elsa Hessle, Saija Koponen, Anna- Kaisa Koski, Verna Kuutti, Katri Paakkanen, Ulla-Maija Pitkänen, Jenni Rope, Hanna Valle and Anna Virtanen.

Deadline for sending applications for July–December 2012 is February 29th, 2012. Applications must include pictures of the proposed work as well as an exhibition plan specifically made for Napa Gallery’s space. Please submit your application in a pdf-format via e-mail to: info@napagalleria.com. We do not accept paper applications. All applicants will be notified of the selection results via e-mail in one month’s time.

Exhibition Rent for 4 weeks is (incl. VAT 23%) 570 €. More information, including the  floor plan can be found here.

Panda is going traveling with a white puppy to meet animal friends and a baby.

One moment one meeting!

Meeting with friends makes Panda’s journey happy!

Aggressively cute animals and babies are coming together in Napa Gallery.

Hope you will come here to see them.

Enjoy your meeting with animals!

Yasushi Koyama is a Japanese artist living and working in Finland. The artworks exhibited at Napa Gallery are a series that was inspired by Finnish forests, folklore, and the work of the artists Niki de Saint Phalle and Yoshitomo Nara.

Napa Gallery warmly welcomes you to the first exhibition of 2012 – see you soon!

Napa Christmas Shop is full of new books and other things. Here’s a few picks from the selection!

Brand new pocket size (A6) sketch books with cover illustrations by Jenni Rope, Nene Tsuboi and Matti Pikkujämsä!

Beautiful picture books by Bernardo Carvalho from Portuguese Planeta Tangerina are eye candy for both kids and grown ups.

Childrens books by Harriet Russell and Bruno Munari from Italian Corraini and  Nuno Neves’ trilingual illustrated book about Finland from Portuguese Serrote.

Kaisa Riivari‘s pendants from recycled wood and Elina Järvinen‘s crocheted PomPom necklaces and more jewelry by young Finnish designers.

New art, design and architecture books from the wonderful Gestalten!

All of these and many more can now be found at Napa Christmas Shop and some of them will soon be available in Napa’s webshop as well! Stop by at Eerikinkatu 18, if you’re in luck we might just have made a pot full of hot glögg!

The fourth Flipbook Competition results are here!

This year we received 42 flipbooks from 11 countries. The quality of the entries was very high so the jury decided to give three honorary prizes to those entries that came very close to the top three finalists.

And the winners are:

1. Terhi Ekebom: Sweet Home (Finland) / Prize: Publishing contract with Napa Books (December 2011)

The winning flipbook charmed the jury with it’s simple and imaginative storyline and a skilled, smooth movement. Sweet home is both traditional and fresh with a positive touch.

2. Joost Stokhof: 60 seconds of fame (Netherlands) / Publishing contract with Napa Books (Spring 2012)

The runner up impressed us with it’s beautiful and simplistic line drawings and a new approach to the flipbook as a medium. 60 seconds of fame is well-composed and conceptually fascinating. 

3. Tia Kim: Untitled (Australia) / Book prize

The second runner up was appreciated by the jury for it’s refined drawing and beautiful details. It’s storyline is simple but effective.

Honorary prizes:

4. Reiko Asai: Woolly-go-round (Japan) / Book prize

5. Amina Bouajila: Suis-je un saumon d’ē levage (France) / Book prize

6. Janna Añonuevo Langholz: Arrivals (United States) / Book prize

The jury members this year were: Marjo Granlund (agent for Napa Illustrations), Verna Kuutti (publicist for Helsinki Comics Center), Katri Paakkanen (exhibition coordinator at Napa Gallery), Ulla-Maija Pitkänen (artist), Jenni Rope (artist, publisher of Napa Books) and Hanna Valle (graphic designer).

All of the flipbooks that took part in the competition are exhibited at Napa Gallery until 21 December. The winning flipbook is available for purchase at Napa Gallery and Napa Books webshop in the beginning of December.

Congratulations to all winners and a big thank you to everyone who took part! 

Napa’s Christmas Shop opens on thursday 1.12. and is open everyday until December 21st. (except 6.12. we’re closed)

On our shelves we have lots of great new art books by independent publishers, picture books from Portugal and Italy, new collection of jewelry by Finnish designers, new sketchbooks and other perfect gifts for your friends and family!

In the gallery you can also see the Napa Flipbook Competition entries exhibition and Terhi Ekebom‘s window installation. Welcome!

Opening times in December:
Mon-Fri 12-18
Sat-Sun 12-16