Exhibitions in temporary venues, welcome!

The Young Artist of the Year 2026, Roope Itälinna, depicts young people dancing at raves and clubs with photographic precision, surrounded by coloured lights, haze and electronic music. Alongside nightlife, he explores moments of solitude and withdrawal into one’s inner world in a variety of domestic and public spaces. His paintings capture something essential about youth – what it feels like to live, feel and be young.

Itälinna’s paintings combine the precision of photorealism with minimalist spatial compositions, creating a tense and carefully considered atmosphere. His meticulous and refined painting technique is a defining feature of the works. They are rooted in the artist’s own experiences of rave culture as well as photographs he has taken himself, which he freely develops in a painterly and fictional direction. In recent years, Itälinna has been particularly inspired by films and meaningful encounters with other people. In the exhibition, the old industrial setting enters into a unique dialogue with the subject matter of the works.