<p>Jan Hietala is an artist, professor of architecture and author. In words and images, he has long explored the artistic tradition surrounding the male body, homoeroticism and creative processes between men. Among other things, he is interested in colleague Eugène Jansson (1862–1915) who was known for his “blue painting” and nude portraits of men. The suite of images<i> Letters That I Sent to Peter and Then Took Back Again</i> is a personal artwork created in just under a month in 1997 as an intense exchange of letters. Jan Hietala met Peter on the ferry to Finland. They spent ten days together before Peter returned to Switzerland. At their last meeting, when the relationship ended, Jan Hietala took his letters back and turned them into artistic evidence of romantic longing and lost love.</p>

Art work: Jan Hietala, from Letters That I Sent to Peter and Then Took Back Again, 1997

Jan Hietala

More works by the artist