Raisa Raekallio and Misha del Val
Misha del Val woke up in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. He jumped out of bed, grabbed a couple of biscuits and a glass of milk, kissed his mum, his grandma, his aunties, and headed for art school. In the semi-darkness of the classroom, he was bewitched by the slides of Goya, Munch, Dumas, Doig floating on the wall. After the bell rang, tired and hungry, he spent 11 years in Australia. In the evening, he took a cab to Berlin. He was skipping around in the park when he met again his old friend Raisa Raekallio. The light of the new day found Misha in Lapland, munching rye bread toasts, daydreaming in the snow, and making paintings with Raisa.
Raisa Raekallio´s first tasting experience (after mother´s milk) was the juice of a chubby cloudberry from a swamp humming with mosquitos in Kittilä, Finnish Lapland. The seasons passed, with longings for cakes that were named after the spouses of important people. At the Institute of Fine Arts in Lahti, while flirting with the oil paints, she finally learned to drink coffee properly. On a sunny day in Plaka, Athens’ old quarter, Raisa had her first pita souvlaki (without meat) served from a dark hole in a crumbling ancient wall and met this cuckoo young artist. Now she enjoys her Basque milky cinnamony desserts in the old wooden house built by the former school cook of the village.
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MökkiRaisa Raekallio and Misha del Val, Mökki, Oil on linen, 170 cm x 220 cm ,2021. Photo: MdV and RR.
Raisa Raekallio and Misha del Val, Untitled (Self-portrait)Oil on linen, 115 cm x 135 cm, 2020. Photo: MdV + RR
Raisa Raekallio and Misha del Val, Taksikuskin Avautuva Sydän Oil on linen, 155 cm x 220 cm, 2020. Photo: Mdv + RR
Raisa Raekallio and Misha del Val, ‘Sauna Painting (Awakening)’Oil on linen, 115 cm x 135 cm, 2021. Photo: MdV + RR
Raisa Raekallio & Misha del Val, Kihottajat – BystandersRaisa Raekallio and Misha del Val, Raisa Raekallio & Misha del Val, Kihottajat – Bystanders, Oil on linen, 178 cm x 220 cm ,2022. Photo: MdV and RR.
Raisa Raekallio and Misha del Val, ’Tivoli – La Feria’Oil on linen, 145cm x 172 cm, 2020. Photo: MdV + RR
Raisa Raekallio and Misha del Val, ‘Neighbours’Oil on linen, 30 cm x 40 cm, 2021. Photo: MdV + RR
The Clown, the Pilot and the SamuraiRaisa Raekallio and Misha del Val, The Clown, the Pilot and the Samurai, Installation view, Makasiini Contemporary, 2021. Photo: MdV.
LumipalloefektiRaisa Raekallio and Misha del Val, Lumipalloefekti, Installation view, Oulu Art Museum, 2021. Photo: MdV.
Curriculum Vitae
Download CV (.pdf)Events
1.3. – 19.4.2024
Raisa Raekallio & Misha Del Val – KAAMOS
Gallery Espacio Marzana in Bilbao is showcasing the works of Raisa Raekallio and Misha del Val in a solo exhibition 1.3. – 19.4.2024.
Raisa Raekallio and Misha del Val’s works created during the last two winters’ kaamos include Painting #2, the most oversized format painting the artists have made yet, measuring more than two meters high and six meters long. This enveloping composition explores the emotional and spiritual dimensions of the relationship between trees and human beings against the backdrop of arctic forests.
The Finnish word kaamos designates the polar night, the period of the Arctic winter in which the sun does not rise above the horizon. This phenomenon lasts precisely twenty-four hours in the Arctic Circle and lasts for around six weeks at the latitude of Sirkka, where the artist couple lives and works. Kaamos is a period of settlement and introspection, characterized by a magical and singular environmental phenomenology: subtle changes in light, which the abundant snow reflects everywhere; a sky that acquires capricious colors depending on the weather conditions during the few hours of semi-clarity; northern lights and sininen hetki (the blue moment) that can appear during the cold and endless arctic nights.
Espacio Marzana is a private gallery mainly focusing on promoting emerging artistic proposals while also showcasing established artists, primarily in painting.
“When Raisa and Misha paint together, a burst of unusual characters emerges from the dialogue between the two artists. The curtain opens to scenes where a crowd appears entangled in some unusual activity in a cabin retreat, in the woods, or a sauna.” Saara Hacklin, Chief Curator of Collections, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki