The exhibition focuses on the different roles of women. In one work, a lady, naked and alone in bed, sips champagne whilst watching Fellini's Roma (1972) on a portable television. Surrounding her is a wash of maudlin hues, and at the centre of which, a black balloon floats menacingly above her head; almost a reversal of Lamorisse’s The Red Balloon (1956), extinguishing all hope. Pain and beauty are themes that run throughout Lehtonen Braun's art.
Watercolours, ink, and delicately excised collage elements are the key factors of Lehtonen Braun’s work. Her work asks pertinent question such as: What does it mean to be a woman? How can role models be fulfilled? What inner conflicts arise?
Originally from Helsinki, Niina Lehtonen Braun was the first member of her family to choose a career in art. Her grandmother was a farmer, and the influence of rural life and family bonds feed into her practice. She finds herself continually divided: between her art and her family, tradition and innovation, security and freedom, fulfilment and desperation. These vexations she addresses through her female characters, illustrating the continual challenges faced by a contemporary female artist: the dialogue between the expectations imposed by the art world alongside pertinent questions about being a woman today.
Original text by Dr. Christine Nippe, commissioned for Visiting Artist program at the Finnish Institute, Berlin
Niina's exhibition is supported by Frame Contemporary Art Finland
Please contact gallery for availability of work and prices.
Girl and the Nettle
Collage, Ink and Watercolour on Paper
84 x 59.5cm
2018
SOLD
Fellinis Roma
Collage, Ink and Watercolour on Paper
84 x 59.5cm
2018
POA
November socks
Collage, Ink and Watercolour on Paper
15.5 x 11 cm
2018
SOLD
Untitled (red shoes)
mixed media on paper
21 x 15 cm
2019
POA
Toss Me a Cigarette
mixed media on paper
49 x 22 cm
2018
POA
Untitled (Prayer)
mixed media on paper
84 x 59.5 cm
2018
POA
Untitled (Hanging Laundry)
mixed media on paper
84 x 59.5 cm
2018
POA
Untitled (Tulips)
mixed media on paper
84 x 59.5 cm
2018
POA
Untitled (Smiley Balloon)
mixed media on paper
59 x 42 cm
2018
SOLD
Untitled (Grey Shoe)
mixed media on paper
59 x 42 cm
2018
POA
Untitled (the brown shoe II)
mixed media on paper
35 x 27.5 cm
2019
SOLD
Untitled (Mirror)
mixed media on paper
56 x 42 cm
2019
POA
Yes, You Idiot
mixed media on paper
28 x 35 cm,
2018
POA
Untitled (Mädchen)
mixed media on paper
30 x 21 cm
2018
POA
Untitled (Sleeping)
mixed media on paper
84 x 59.5 cm
2018
POA
The Path
mixed media on paper
59.5 cm x 84 cm
2018
POA
I am the sum of all my parents´ faults
collage and watercolour on paper,
21 x 29.5 cm
2018
POA
Niina Lehtonen Braun (b. 1975, Helsinki) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki in 2000 and has been based in Berlin since then. In addition to collages, her artistic work includes paintings, installations and performances. Lehtonen Braun is a founding member of the performance group JOKAklubi (FI/DE), and she regularly works in co-operation with the performance group Sabotanic Garden (FI/CZ). Lehtonen Braun has published two art books; Mother Said (Kerber Verlag, 2013) and These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You (Kerber Verlag, 2016).