The stress factors of recent history are transformed into black and white artwork in June 2026, when Juho Mäntypuro’s exhibition opens its doors at TASO Gallery. ”The Trench” is the artist’s first solo exhibition in Oulu.
Juho Mäntypuro’s art exhibition ”The Trench” is a collection of messy mental landscapes transferred onto paper with felt-tip pens and markers. The exhibition opens on June 2nd at TASO Gallery in Pikisaari, Oulu. The exhibition opening is on June 2nd at 3:00 PM, and the exhibition can be experienced for free until the end of the month.
The exhibition’s black and white art pieces contemplate the modern individual’s ability to navigate through internal and external pressure factors. The works make visible contradictory, often difficult-to-express trains of thought and emotional experiences, the final form of which cannot be presented in an unambiguous way. The visual style of ”The Trench” exhibition has been inspired by deep-sea imagery, horror literature and rock music. The end result is a combination of mental landscapes of decay, fear, and stress, through which nuances of humor and hopefulness can be perceived.
The thematic inspiration for the exhibition stems from the significant international challenges of recent history – from wars and pandemics, as well as from political polarization. In the art pieces, this societal experience is combined with the artist’s own personal experience. Mäntypuro challenges the exhibition visitor to boldly mirror themselves in the mental landscapes of his works and to find the message of the works themselves on a personal level. The artist sees his own experience as only a part of the dialogue conducted through the works, the final message of which takes shape only through the viewer’s own interpretation.
Juho Mäntypuro is a part-time visual artist based in Oulu, who has had previous exhibitions for example in Reisjärvi, Haapajärvi, and Ylivieska. ”The Trench” is the artist’s first solo exhibition in Oulu. The artist’s self-taught and experimental black and white style draws inspiration from mandala art, surrealism, and comic art. The artist describes his original style as a ”chaos mandala”, and he has been purposefully developing his self-taught technique for over 10 years.
The artist is happy to be able to participate in the Oulu Cultural Capital program in two different locations. After Oulu, Mäntypuro will bring his exhibition to Ylivieska in August, where the exhibition can be experienced until the end of the month at the Kulttuurikeskus Akustiikka.
