Art center Ahjo, Sysi -hall: Antti Pitkäjärvi

ÄFTER WÖRK
ANTTI PITKÄJÄRVI
10.7. - 28.7.2024, SYSI -HALL

Finland's foremost artists in the spotlight at Antti Pitkäjärvi's exhibition in Joensuu

After the gig, Antti Pitkäjärvi's new photo exhibition ÄFTER WÖRK – Artists by Antti Pitkäjärvi, who has photographed at the most important festivals and clubs in Finland for more than a decade, will open in Joensuu Art Center Ahjo on Wednesday, July 10. Pitkäjärvi's ÄFTER WÖRK photo series puts the spotlight on our country's top artists immediately after their concerts. Rare, intimate and expressive photographic works can be seen in Ahjo until Sunday 28 of July 2024.

The photographs in the ÄFTER WÖRK exhibition were created in Joensuu's live clubs, festivals and outdoor events during the years 2019-2024. The black-and-white photographs feature a total of 43 famous Finnish artists and bands, such as Antti Tuisku, Sexmane, Maija Vilkkumaa, Anssi Kela, KUUMAA, Vesala, Ismo Alanko and Gasellit.

- ÄFTER WÖRK was born from the desire to bring out the artists and bands we all know and listen to in a new, more intimate light. I've been photographing gigs and capturing moments in front of a large audience for years, but like surely music fans, I've long been fascinated by the idea of ​​what kind of emotions artists experience the moment they step off the stage and in front of the audience. ÄFTER WÖRK tears back the curtain specifically for that fleeting moment, Pitkäjärvi explains.

In ÄFTER WÖRK's stripped-down, milieu-free and dominantly lighted works, the essential is emphasized: the micro expressions of the artists who have left the stage, the small details of the clothes and the traces left by the hot lights, as well as the personality and individual experience of each musician right after the gig ends.

The photographic works also remind the audience of the irreplaceable investment of the artists in their live performances and tell about the special personal nature of the musician's work.

- The exhibition features several artists whose careers and performances I have been able to document for several years. The realization of this photo series alone has felt like an insane privilege. As a photographer, you get to catch many kinds of intimate, even private moments, but rarely this close. ÄFTER WÖRK is a palpably sensitive, raw and personal body of work, Pitkäjärvi concludes.

43-year-old Antti Pitkäjärvi is a long-time videographer and photographer - during the day he is the communications coordinator of the North Karelia welfare region and in the evenings a documentary photographer who has influenced the live music and event industry for decades. Pitkäjärvi has worked as an event photographer at indoor and outdoor festivals and music clubs around Finland. In addition to live music, Pitkäjärvi's work is inspired by the atmosphere of the environment and the small nuances of its changes.