Antti Oikarinen: Almost Nothing

Large sheets of paper show traces of drawings that have been rubbed away with an eraser. So much has been erased, that merely some shapes can be seen of the original drawing. Why are there failed and erased drawings in the exhibition? What was in the drawings in the first place?

The almost empty sheets and the thought of abandoned works of art raise many questions. However, one more unexpected side lies in the way works have been made – once it is revealed that Antti Oikarinen has, in fact, not used an eraser at all. The works are purely pencil drawings. They are skillful and finished drawings that depict erased drawings. There never was an original drawing, and we will never know what the drawings might have been of.

Antti Oikarinen is known for his surprising works that play with materials and our notions of what certain materials should look like. His works often reveal how easy it is to see something that in the end isn’t quite true. His detailed, time-consuming way of working is combined with a conceptual level, where he examines the reliability of perception.

Antti Oikarinen (b. 1974) lives and works in Riihimäki. He holds a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Oulu (1998) as well as a master’s degree in fine arts from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts (2006). He has held several private exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Finland and around Europe. He has works in several Finnish museum collections.

The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture.