JANI HÄNNINEN: Odd One Out

The paintings and drawings in the exhibition Odd One Out are the result of a period filled with frantic working. After hours of painting at his workroom in Haaga, Jani could then spend the rest of the evening by filling his sketchbooks with drawings after drawings, hours at a time. This constant overworking led to a state Jani describes as similar to what athletes face with overtraining: when working every waking hour and even waking up with the paintings first on your mind, can lead to a numbing inability to see, think and create. 

Similarly, the continuous visual bombardment of the everyday world, with social media apps constantly pushing out more images and impelling not only to see but to interact as well, can ultimately prove to be more of a nuisance and a distraction, leading to an equally overworked mind. Jani Hänninen has increasingly distanced himself from the customed places of visual inspiration and turned the gaze towards the material already existing in the depths of his own mind.

Jani’s sketchbooks are filled with drawings, that have poured on the pages with a free, almost automatic flow, something he actively strives for with painting as well. Instead of planning carefully and meticulously in advance, Jani now gives the paintings the possibility to take a free course, working on the canvases with a spontaneous, intuitive hand.

The name of the exhibition, Odd One Out, came from playing with the word ODD, that to Jani appealed first and foremost through the visual form of the letters. The graphic effect of the combined characters and words is just as equally important as the meanings given to it.

One namesake of the title is a visual puzzle game where the goal is to spot the one “odd” pear among a heap of apples or the sad face out of the rows of  sneering yellow smileys, a game that finds its visual reference in the playful elements of Jani’s works. On the other hand it contains the implication of outsiderness and loneliness that can resonate in the feelings of seclusion and solitude this past year has given all of us a taste of.