Magazine 2/2010 - Emma

Talkingof red” Red is perhaps themost diverse and eloquentof all colours and for thatreason the most living”Carolus EnckellArtistCarolus Enckellinterviewed byPäivi KarttunenPhotosAri Karttunen,Milja LaurilaPäivi Karttunen: Let’s talk about the colour redin art. You mentioned Fra Angelico, Breugheland Barnett Newman, when I asked you whichartist comes first to mind when you think aboutthe use of red in art. Why these three?Carolus Enckell: Because they all used itinterestingly, differently, metaphorically. FraAngelico, in my opinion, used it to symbolisethe divine state, as an expression of gentledevoutness on the faces of people in hispaintings. For Breughel red, or more correctlyorange-red, portrays the profane life, somethingmundane, close to man, whereas BarnettNewman, contrary to the other two, createscolour. For Newman, colour is a pure state,something archaic into which you can becomesubmerged.PK: You’re a painter and use a lot of red inyour work. You’ve said that this was due to yourvisit to Morocco in the 1970s. You experiencedMorocco as a country of red landscapes thatappealed to your senses. How did your relationshipto the colour red begin?CE: Largely because I felt that the characterof red was more dominant than any other colour.More than others it makes a statement– it has authority, it has the widest register ofall colours, the most hues. Perhaps the onlyother colour that can compete with it is green.Another source of red came from my interestin Kasimir Malevich and his Suprematism –the symbol of revolution. Perhaps not in thepolitical sense but as a symbol of change, thenecessity for spiritual growth, just as whitesymbolised for him eternity.PK: Now and then you have titled your workswith references to certain artists. Let’s get backto the reds of Fra Angelico and Breughel andyour creative work.CE: In some of my works I’ve used Lefranc& Bourgeois’s oil paints with names like FraAngelico Red, Uccello Red and Breughel Red.I presume the object of the company was tosimulate these artists’ reds in their paints. Thishas made me think whether the viewer is ableto associate these colours with the relevant art-The Saastamoinen Foundation’s new hanging around the theme of Red is now showing at EMMA.8