Raili Tang @ Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki

Raili Tang

Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki

August 22 – September 21, 2025

Raili Tang’s latest paintings literally capture interwoven layers of time. Originally created in 1996 for an exhibition at Lahti Art Museum, the first iterations were inspired by train rides between Helsinki and Lahti, as Raili Tang gazed out the window at passing fields, barns, and forests. Now, thirty years later, she has returned to these same canvases, using them as the foundation for new artistic explorations. For Tang, the painted surface—built up through countless layers of color and intricate detail—remains her enduring source of inspiration.

In this renewed body of work, expressive floral motifs once again emerge from Tang’s abstract backgrounds. Some of her blooms stand upright in vases; others sprout from the earth itself. Among them are radiant orchids, painted in the spirit of German Expressionist Emil Nolde (1867–1956), alongside humble dandelions pushing up through cracks in the pavement. The theme of time’s passage is deeply embedded not only in the imagery, but in the very making of the works—some of the smaller floral compositions are built on backgrounds that Tang painted during her student years at the Academy of Fine Arts.

A master colorist, Raili Tang weaves a universe of details born from the interplay of pigments. The best way to experience her work is slowly: the layers of paint are like quiet clues, scattered breadcrumbs that lead to small, meaningful revelations. Her droplets of paint, nuanced brushstrokes, and vibrant hues capture a wide emotional spectrum—mirroring life itself.

Raili Tang (b. 1950) has exhibited extensively both in Finland and abroad. Her work is held in several of Finland’s most prestigious collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Sara Hildén Art Museum, the Wihuri and Saastamoinen Foundations, and HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Raili Tang was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal in 2015.

GALERIE FORSBLOM

Yrjönkatu 22, 00120 Helsinki

www.galerieforsblom.com

Artist Raili Tang @ Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki - "Flower of Life" Exhibition

Raili Tang: Flower of Life

Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki

November 29, 2024 – January 12, 2025

Raili Tang has been painting the seasons and incorporating organic references in her compositions for many years. Although figurative expression holds secondary relevance for the artist, her paintings convincingly capture a vivid sense of nature’s flux. Her latest paintings depict a variety of flowers – often of a fanciful, fictitious variety, but some are also inspired by real flower species. Floral motifs have a long legacy in art history. Artists have been conveying rich symbolism through flowers for centuries, but for Tang, the thing of paramount importance is the act of painting itself, whether done with a paintbrush, palette knife or even a glove. Raili Tang is a physical painter whose process combines exuberant abandon and sensitive dialogue with the canvas. Sometimes her paintings are completed in one quick session, other times it takes longer for them to find their final form. Her overlapping layers of color interact in complex ways, supporting, challenging, surprising and drawing strength from each other, expressing the full spectrum of human emotions in their chorus of hues.

Raili Tang is a colorist who believes that colors say more than words ever could. A single painting might contain countless nuances expressed purely with color. The best way to enjoy Tang’s art is to give oneself time to immerse oneself deeply in its bewildering richness and to soak up the energy that flows from it. While many of Tang’s paintings express joy, they also convey other emotions; a touch of melancholy often lingers in the background, suggesting that life is best when exploring and appreciating the full richness of its colors and nuances. A new feature that has emerged alongside Tang’s signature expressive style is the appearance of delicate color accents alluding to Impressionism. Playing with combinations of warm and cool hues is an enjoyable process for Raili Tang, and the viewer can palpably sense the ease with which coloristic nuances flow from her brush.

Raili Tang (b. 1950) has exhibited her work widely in Finland and internationally. Her paintings are held in Finland’s major museum collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Sara Hildén Art Museum, the Wihuri Foundation, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and the HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Raili Tang was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal in 2015.

GALERIE FORSBLOM

Yrjönkatu 22, 00120 Helsinki

www.galerieforsblom.com

Raili Tang @ Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki - Väri ja tunne

Raili Tang: Väri ja tunne

Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki

Through January 3, 2021

Raili Tang (b. 1950) has conjured forth an exhibition themed around the emotion of joy. The works in this show were painted last spring and summer as a conscious antidote to the fear and uncertainty that swept the world. Tang escaped the never-ending deluge of bad news by retreating to her studio and spreading joy and warmth on the canvas.

Raili Tang wanted to liberate herself from all restrictions by surrendering herself to the pleasure of painting. She painted her latest works out of the pure joy of painting, and she wanted her exultation to be reflected in their rich, exuberant palette. Even for an artist already known as a brilliant colorist, this new ensemble of works revels in colors of unprecedented intensity, with glowing yellows dancing alongside myriad shades of red and green. Her new paintings are a celebration of color as well as physicality, another striking and typical feature of her work. For Tang, painting has always been a process in which she vigorously engages her whole body.

Raili Tang’s new exhibition exudes an insistent sense of liberation that verges upon outright anarchism. Her style has grown more abstract, her typical round shapes having lost their well-defined outlines and melted into figures with an anthropomorphic presence, the compositions being reminiscent of people embracing and touching each other. Closeness and touch are basic human needs, and their importance is something we barely even notice until we are deprived of them – as we have all recently experienced collectively. Tang declares a message of love and peace with paintings that are more colorful and expressive than ever seen before from this artist.

Raili Tang has exhibited widely both in Finland and internationally. Her work is found in leading Finnish museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and the Helsinki Art Museum HAM. Tang is the 2015 winner of the Pro Finlandia medal.

GALERIE FORSBLOM

Yrjönkatu 22 - 00120 Helsinki

www.galerieforsblom.com

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