Young Artists 2009 | Taidehalli

Young artists do not spare the world. They turn their talents to comment upon the financial crisis, climate change and information overload. The jury was surprised at how vibrant the social and political interest was among the works submitted for the show.

The Young Artists exhibition is a regular event that has acquired a legendary status in Finland. The first show was held in 1939 in the Kunsthalle, 70 years ago. Young people have always caused a stir, and the work of young artists has presaged future trends.

Social and political commentary in the Young Artists 2009 exhibition takes many forms, ranging from the serious to the colourful, from the concerned to the hopeful. Many of the works on show demonstrate how young artists often take a global perspective in their thinking. Their politics does not result in tendentious art, however, but rather in commentaries on this day and age.

Many of the works are quite funny and offer surprising viewpoints. Benjamin Orlow's wind machines react to the fluctuations of stock exchange rates, Leena Kleemola depicts abandoned industrial premises and Pii Anttila presents a stall dedicated to her very own trash magazine, PiiMii. Laura Lilja reflects upon contemporary rebellion and heroism in her work Heroes: a group of classical plaster busts with black masks covering their faces.
Konsta Ojala has built a climate-change-proof styrofoam igloo, where you can watch an animation in the company of two penguins. Timo Wright's image-destroying machine is a comment on the overflow of images in the media.

Chaired by the artist photographer Stefan Bremer, this year's jury appraised 465 submissions comprising 1,246 artworks. The final selection consists of 70 works by 62 artists, all under 35. The Finnish Maecenas Guild awards a prize of 6,000 euro to one young artist in the exhibition.