Bipolar drawings 2018 - Ilkka Sariola

When I draw, I often rotate the paper in different directions. In this series of 11 pencil drawings, I play with the idea of “two-way” flip-flops. The drawings contain, as it were, two works when the image is reversed. In the feministly interpretable works of the first part of the series, I combine the imagery of well-known female mma -fighters with the faces of dictators and their disgusting opinions about women. The second half of the series surprises with reversals of different dog breeds and people. In the exhibitions, these drawings may have either been concretely turned on the wall in different directions, or they may have been viewed from above on a “work stand”. Each pencil drawing in the series measures 37.5 x 37.5 cm.

“With a pencil, Ilkka Sariola draws even more angry social criticism and the fragile human shame and weakness next to it. Dogs are bad, very violent – and on the other hand kind, fearful. People are quite similar, but a little more despicable. The text meanders among them, mocking Trump’s image of man. But even stronger than the text here, the picture speaks, tells, and argues. And then the picture of Sariola could be turned upside down in the show, and things turn upside down. Life is a battle of two-way, but not without moments of humanity. ”
Art critic Pessi Rautio in the exhibition evaluation of Taide magazine.