PORI PARIS, POLAROID IMAGES – ARNO RAFAEL MINKKINEN

PRESS RELEASE

Arno Rafael Minkkinen presents his Polaroid work from the past two years in this exhibition, featuring the Mattomies series from 1984 and later photos taken in France, Italy, and Finland—all of which are, in some way, self-portraits. In the exhibition catalog preface, Professor of Philosophy Robert Pujade from the Aix-en-Provence Teacher Training College writes:

*”It is time to emphasize that Minkkinen is one of the few photographers who has understood photography as the only immobile image capable of creating miraculous impressions. The sense of wonder or the supernatural in his work stems from his ability to select a perspective that invariably leads the viewer toward fiction, even when what lies before the eyes is a trace of reality…

Many have claimed that the excellence of his self-portraits arises from his extraordinary physique—an athlete’s and yogi’s body—but we are used to seeing photographs of athletes without considering them unnatural. Minkkinen’s art is not about physical feats but, above all, achievements of the eye.”*

Arno Rafael Minkkinen (b. 1945), originally from Finland, has lived in the United States since 1951. He studied at Fort Hamilton High School and Wagner College in New York and under John Tice, John Benson, Ralph Hattersley, Harry Callahan, and Aaron Siskind. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions across the U.S. and Europe and held solo exhibitions in New York, Seattle, Helsinki, Stockholm, Amsterdam, and other cities.

Minkkinen has also worked as a photography instructor both in the U.S. and Finland. Between 1974 and 1976, he taught at the University of Art and Design Helsinki and the Lahti Institute of Design, where he is currently serving his second term as an instructor.

After its showing in Pori, the exhibition will travel to Paris, where it will be on view in November–December at Galerie Viviane Esders. The poster designed for the exhibition, “PORI-PARIS, ARNO MINKKINEN, Polaroid Images,” by Kimmo Koskela, won the Grand Prize in the poster competition at the Arles Photography Festival in the summer of 1985.

Publication:
ISBN 951-9355-11-1 Arno Rafael Minkkinen: PORI PARIS
Pori Art Museum 10.10.-10.11.1985
Copyright © 1985 by Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Reproduction: Scankuva Oy
Front cover: Kyyjärvi 1985
Back cover: Mattomies No 1, 1984
Page 1: Mattomies No 14, 1984
Catalog design: Kimmo Koskela
Markprint Oy, 1985
Pori Art Museum Publications 7

Translated with ChatGPT