J.P Köykkä: Wobbly Table

Rhythm lies at the core of J.P Köykkä’s paintings. In the studio, he seeks to attune himself to an intuitive visual language that balances harmony with intense dynamism, creating compositions that hover mischievously between stability and play. This delicate equilibrium allows the canvas to breathe, as forms seem to settle into place with apparent spontaneity. Diverse elements enter into dialogue – meeting and parting, resting alongside one another, or darting off in divergent directions. Though his works project a sense of compositional control, they are invariably animated by a subtle, humorous glint.

Köykkä began his artistic career as a graffiti artist, and he often still paints graffiti before heading to the studio – as a way of entering the right state of mind. Traces of street culture remain discernible in his canvases, even if they are not consciously foregrounded. Across his oeuvre, diverse artistic traditions intersect and overlap; his modes of expression and material handling shift fluidly from one register to another.

Working with a wide range of materials is central to Köykkä’s practice. He continually experiments with new mediums while returning to familiar ones, each time discovering fresh possibilities and an inexhaustible playground for exploration. He is particularly interested in setting up tensions between materiality and subject matter. While the conceptual underpinnings of his work draw on modernism, abstract expressionism, and constructivism, his paintings possess an emphatic physical presence. This pronounced materiality lends his work an idiosyncratic edge, anchoring it firmly in the present.

J.P Köykkä (b. 1987) graduated from the visual arts program at Tampere University of Applied Sciences in 2015. His work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at Kunstwerk Carlshütte in Büdelsdorf, Germany, the Mänttä Art Festival, Tampere Art Museum, Vantaa Art Museum Artsi, and Pori Art Museum. His works are held in several public collections, including the Finnish National Gallery, Tampere Art Museum, the City of Tampere, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and HUS Helsinki University Hospital.

  
For inquiries and previews of J.P Köykkä´s works, please reach out to Sales Director Marjatta Latvanen at marjatta@galerieforsblom.com.