Paavo Räbinä (born 1965 in Kuopio) lives and works Helsinki. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki 1991.
The mains topics of Räbinä’s art include war, violence, struggles for power, suffering and life as a refugee. Also Räbinä often finds the topics for his works from historical or literary sources, in the ”scar material” of our society or culture. Räbinä`s works have had a wide range of starting points such as the Finnish Civil War, devaluation, the power of money and poverty resulting from economic depression, as well as poems by Brecht and plays by Shakespeare.
In his more recent works, Räbinä is still intrigued by the fate of people being caught up in the web of political and social change. In the works comprising the new exhibition, Räbinä turns his focus from the past to the present, giving a face to immigrants, refugees and to people queuing for bread. Dramatic changes in society and changes in the lives of individual people can cause mental wounds and scars, which can take several generations to heal. Räbinä's works study the values and mental state of people today.
Paavo Räbinä ‘THE DAY THAT WILL NEVER COME’ 26.10.-18.11.2018
Video by Pia Männikkö
‘Meanwhile Elsewhere’
Paavo Räbinä
‘Moans of Scars’
Paavo Räbinä