Sculpture Markiisi de Palsa on display at Levi tourist information

Essi Korva's sculpture is a portrait of both Palsa's art, Palsa himself, and Marquis de Palsa, Palsa's alter ego.

The artist Kalervo (Kalle) Palsa (1947–1987) lived and worked in Narikka, an area habited by the poor socially and down and out of Kittilä at the time.

Palsa would have turned 75 this year and for this occasion, the Palsa Museum in Kittilä, maintained by the Kauko Sorjonen Foundation, and the Kittilä municipality's cultural activity together with six artists have produced a series of contemporary artworks.

Essi Korva's sculpture is a portrait of both Palsa's art, Palsa himself, and Marquis de Palsa, Palsa's alter ego. It consists of broken wine bottles and concrete. The broken glass describes the sensitivity, joys and sorrows of the artist, while the concrete refers to the hardness of his character, which is shown through Palsa's art. The statue is like a creature from Palsa's paintings, it conveys a sense of humor that would surely have amused Palsa himself.

The theme of the series of works is THE SMILING BOY, which the artists have interpreted freely. The other participating artists are Reijo Raekallio (Pöntsö Galleria/Kittilä), Veera Kaamos Pitkänen (Espoo), Jyrki Siukonen (Tampere), Juha Allan Ekholm (Espoo/ Turku) and Tuomo Kangasmaa (Oulu).

The works were exhibited in Kittilä in 2022. Celebration of the year continues and the artworks have been collected together in the exhibition named Year of the Smiley boy.