The Raekallio Gallery

I had seen and liked the paintings of Reijo Raekallio on the Internet.  Besides, it was a nice snowmobile trip away from the ski resort.

The day was cold (-31 C) and clear.  The snowmobile route wound through forests and along rivers.  Suddenly as we turned to drive across a river, I saw a large contemporary estate on the other side.  It was the gallery, home and studio of Raekallio.

Though only a little northwest of Levi, the snow in  Pöntsö was deeper and much softer -- to walk off a path would require snowshoes.  The trees were skeletons of white.

A celebration of Lapland's warmth and beauty awaited inside...

A large paneled room with vaulted ceilings welcomed us to the gallery.  Tables and benches furnished the room.  On the walls hung paintings - paintings of reindeer, of landscapes, of snowscapes, of nightclub scenes.

Reijo Raekallio is one of Lapland's foremost artists.  Exhibited throughout Europe, his earlier works are a mix of the glowing spiritualism of Rouault, inner mysticism of Redon and the whimsical humor of Chagall... reindeers flying off into the sky...a house radiating with a soul of it's own...the magical glow of kaamos.

Other works often depict the night life of Kittila - nightclubs, dance halls.  The colors are marvelous, but the subject matter, even interpreted with Raekallio's dark humor,  just is not my favorite.  I'm sure the critics like these paintings best because the club scenes allow them several layers of pompous socio-aesthetic analysis.

Regardless of the subject matter, the color and form merge to create a rhythm - the rhythm of a torch singer performing her act, the rhythm of a reindeer herd trotting through the forest.

Upon a return visit I was delighted to see more of a return to Lappish nature in Raekallio's work - from the penetrating eyes of  the wolf to the outline of a lone tree upon the fell. A few of the most recent  paintings combine abstract color space with detailed line drawings. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

The house and gallery, built by Raekallio himself, was as much a work of art as the paintings.  When I ventured to the upstairs portion of the gallery, there were windows in odd places - until I looked outside.  Each window framed a breathtaking landscape of nature!

Link to gallery web site:  Galleria Raekallio

Scenes at the Raekallio Gallery

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