The Father, the Son and the Holy Lake10. April - 9. May
Hanna Jaanisoo, Villu Jaanisoo, Matti Kalkamo and Heli Ryhänen.
The most interesting names in Finnish contemporary sculpture make a joint appearance in Kunsthalle Helsinki.
The themes shared by the new, impressive works are the chain of generations, the sanctity of the legacy of the father, and everyday life.
Hanna Jaanisoo, Villu Jaanisoo, Matti Kalkamo and Heli Ryhänen are sculptors whose choice of materials, working methods and conceptual approach are all unique and distinctive. Confronted with their work, one is often amazed by how seriousness and playfulness can merge into such a poignant experience.
The scale and proportions can be surprising, too: a large work suddenly radiates a human fragility, or tiny details appear quite grotesque.
As the artists themselves put it in their statement:
'When we were young, the father was the lord and master of the house, and the 'master's' voice was heard in the pew, at school and at Soviet public meetings. We were all born in the 1960s or '70s, and the society has changed enormously since then. It is bewildering to discover that we have nothing remotely as personal, yet also as collective, as that image of our parents. The kind of image that persisted even if you did not have a father – or had one who was never there.'