28 Years in Porvoo

I have been headquartered in Porvoo for 28 years. Now I want to show a selection of my production made in 1996-2024 in Porvoo for locals, for all the ones visiting the city by chance or on purpose, and for myself.

Choosing your own works is a painful and challenging but also rewarding and eye-opening process.
Especially when you consider that during that period I have had about 40 solo exhibitions and about a hundred group exhibitions. The selection process is fun and stressful at the same time! The fun is in looking back and it’s nerve-wracking what to choose. At the same time, of course, I see what remains to be done. The Gallery Vanha Kappalaisentalo on the edge of the Raatihuoneentori in Porvoo, with its courtyard, has been the place for many summer parties, group exhibitions and meetings for me. It is one of the most beautiful showrooms in Porvoo and in our country. And the number one option for me to have an exhibition in Porvoo.

Traveling to Porvoo since 1996 has been the best time in my personal life. It has been easy to raise a family here and also focus on working in the peace of your own studio on the top of the old town. The main reason for moving to Porvoo was an old decorative carpentry factory where my and my wife’s workspaces could fit and gave and still give both of us peace to focus on our own work. We have been traveling for many years since then, and it has always been nice to return home and to our own studios.

This exhibition is the second larger solo exhibition in Porvoo in 27 years. The 1997 gallery at Johan S church square was the first, and now the 2024 exhibition in the Gallery Vanha Kappalainentalo is the second. In between there have been many joint exhibitions also in Porvoo, but also interesting projects such as a small exhibition “Dialogue between a painter and a framer” at gallery Daisy. I have also been able to do commissions and public art works, of which the Länsiranta Art Project’s disco bus stop “Värijuhlat” (2021) with its many parts opposite the Art Factory as one of them.

But the most important thing in Porvoo for me has been the peace of the studio. Because of that, I have also been happy to do extra gigs to cover not only the family’s finances but also the renovation and maintenance of the studio building. And what’s best, this feeling of Porvoo as home has become even stronger.

My works from 1996-2024 are from several series and exhibitions that I have shown mostly in Helsinki and abroad, and most of them have not been seen in Porvoo. There are also smaller works that have not been seen anywhere before. And as an additional surprise, you may find something from Porvoo…

Petri Hytönen in Porvoo on May 1, 2024

Gallery Vanha Kappalaisentalo, Välikatu 13, 06100 Porvoo.
May 11 – June 16 2024, Tuesday-Sunday 10–16.
Free entry.