Marking the 25th anniversary of the photographic artists’ cooperative Värinä, the exhibition brings together works by 18 artists that explore blue in myriad psychological and material dimensions. Blue appears as complexity and plurality: as the colour of gloom, humour, sadness, play, frustration, security, loneliness, friendship, and calm.
Blue is a colour with many allegorical connotations. It is associated with melancholy, serenity, spirituality, and power. It appears in idioms and cultural codes—as in “feeling blue” or the “blue screen of death.” Curiously enough, many Western cultures lacked a specific word for blue until around the 14th century, despite its presence in the visible spectrum. A colour, in itself, possesses no inherent meaning; it acquires significance through cultural frameworks. Moreover, colours always exist relationally, shaped by their interaction with other hues and by the narrative context in which they appear.
Physiologically, blue light is uniquely perceived. The human retina arranges blue-sensitive cones at the outermost edges, which causes surfaces rendered under blue light to appear slightly blurred. As a result, blue is harder for both the eyes and camera lenses to focus on. Yet colour is not only processed through the optical system, it is also experienced emotionally and metaphorically. Some people can feel blue while standing in an open field beneath an endless sky, or adrift in a vast sea. And we speak of “feeling blue” to describe moods marked by confusion, languor, dissatisfaction, or sorrow.
Historically, the colour blue held an elusive and elevated status. Ultramarine pigment, once only produced by grinding lapis lazuli stone, was one of the most expensive and prized materials in painting, reserved for the most important figures in Western art. In the 19th century, synthetic ultramarine finally made the colour more accessible. In photography, the journey began with cyanotypes before the invention of colour film.
The 29 works in the exhibition explore blues that emerge from present-day darkroom experiments or shimmer as bold, electric macro-tones. Brought together in a single space, these works embark on a poetic journey through the colour’s spectrum—its countless shades and undertones shifting with each viewer’s perception. As you leave the exhibition, we invite you to join in a small game: try to spot everything blue along your path. What turns out to be blue? How many different “blues” can you recognise? And what kinds of feelings does this colour bring up for you?
The current exhibition celebrates the 25th anniversary of the photographic artists’ cooperative Värinä. The cooperative includes 33 members and maintains the only analogue colour darkroom in Finland and a digital printing facility in Vallila, where anyone can make high-quality prints. For its members, preserving a hands-on, experimental, and tactile approach to image-making remains essential, allowing space for trial, error, and discovery.
The exhibiting artists are Jani Frisk, Jenni Haili, Oona Herranen, Adele Hyry, David Jakob, Tuukka Kaila, Sanna Kannisto, Tuula Närhinen, Harri Pälviranta, Ilmari Pylvänäinen, Patrik Rastenberger, Leena Saarikivi, Emma Sarpaniemi, Sanni Seppo, Siiri Sirviö, Kari Soinio, Ida Taavitsainen, Juho Vesanen.
Curated by Ksenia Kaverina and Dahlia El Broul
The exhibition is generously supported by Svenska kulturfonden and Nygréns stiftelse.
Exhibition Team:
Curators: Dahlia El Broul and Ksenia Kaverina
Gallery Technician: Henri Airo
Translations: Tomi Snellman (Finnish), Ida Taavitsainen (Swedish)
Production working group: Harri Pälviranta, Leena Saarikivi, Siiri Sirviö
Finances: Oona Herranen
Värinä Board 2024–25: Ida Taavitsainen, Siiri Sirviö, Petri Kuokka, Leena Saarikivi, Ilmari Pylvänäinen and Mikael Niemi
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Open House at Värinä on 10 October 2025, from 5–7 pm.
Come meet Värinä’s member artists and explore the cooperative’s premises and services.
More information about Värinä: https://varina.org/info/ and in English
We kindly ask you to register in advance so we can anticipate the number of visitors, but you are also welcome to attend without prior registration.
Registration: varinahallitus@gmail.com
Address: Vallila Studio Centre, Lemuntie 4 D, 00510 Helsinki
Värinä – 25th anniversary exhibition
Multitudes of Blue
3–26 October 2025
Photographic Gallery Hippolyte
image: Dahlia El Broul, Multitudes of Blue, 2025