Genuine Expression Art Exhibition by Gabriella Presnal

Utua brand store is hosting a Pride-themed art exhibition in Helsinki. Genuine Expression art exhibition is the first exhibition by a 17-year-old artist Gabriella Presnal. Finnish-American Gabriella Presnal has lived around the world, and in Finland the past two years. She currently is an International Baccalaureate-student in Espoo, and art is one of her main subjects.

The Genuine Expression exhibit reminds why Pride-movement was created, and how the there is no one way to look or be LGBTQIA+. A lot of people have one interpretation of looking at trans or gay people but this project is aiming to say that queer people will continue to be ourselves, regardless of anything arguing otherwise. Presnal’s art is colorful, and it is influenced by international artists like Daniel Arzola, Gabriel Garcia Roman, ja Peter DeVito.

The art pieces in the exhibition are portraits of people who share the LGBT-identity without removing their other identities related to culture, religion or race. The objects of the portraits are from multiple cultures, and Presnal wants to emphasize how they all have something in common, but they all keep their own identities as well.

The most common medium in this exhibition is a series of drawings. The exhibition also includes acrylic paintings and collages.

The CEO of Utua Terhi Vähäsalo says she got excited about partnering with Gabriella after seeing her art and hearing her story. Utua’s brand is driven by ecological and ethical action, and they appreciate people as they are, and they hope everyone can express themselves.

“We wanted to offer a young talented artist a unique opportunity to show her art for the first time, and communicate about her important message” says Terhi Vähäsalo.