Monday, October 6, 2014

Keramiikka tilassa 10.10.2014 - 11.1.2015 Designmuseo



I'm visiting Helsinki for couple of days and it makes me so happy. First of all I get to attend the opening of the first Finnish ceramic art triennale that has been in the making for the past whole year! I'll get to celebrate Finnish ceramic art with my friends and colleagues! (And the second reason why I'm so happy to visit home is that I can then return to Paris.)
 
I can't wait to see all the amazing work that has been juried to be part of the exhibition and the new pieces and installations made for this very show! Among the 43 artists and 66 artworks, two of my portrait plates are exhibited as well and I'm honored to be included! Also the representation of our own studio community Osasto is amazing! Works by sculptors Emma Helle and Merja Ranki will be exhibited, and both Laura Pehkonen and Matias Liimatainen have created new artworks for the show!

Below is the press release for the exhibition. The superlatives are earned!  

Ceramics & Space
"In the coming autumn, Design Museum will present a completely new overview of contemporary Finnish ceramics. The Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo will stage Ceramics & Space, the first exhibition of contemporary Finnish ceramics in association with Design Museum and the Association of Finnish Sculptors.

This high-standard exhibition selected by a jury of experts has inspired professionals in the field to offer their best work. The theme of Ceramics & Space is expressed in poetic works as art, sculpture, installations and studies of form and material. Many of the works address the history of ceramics and its forms of representation at the present time. The works also take up subjects of a socio-political nature, with the material serving as a mirror on society and an ironic statement on the setting in which we live. What motifs are valuable enough for decorating plates or pots? The works of the exhibition display both pure beauty and grotesque humour, and they provide an opportunity for contemplation and questioning.

Ceramics is an important material of contemporary art with time-honoured traditions. The exhibition will give viewers a look at the opportunities of different ways of working with ceramics. It can be shaped, cast, broken, illustrated, built and combined with new media.  The exhibition will also present the present state of ceramic art in Finland, from solid craftsmanship and command of the material to work of a less restricted nature in which everything is possible. It will address the traditions of ceramic art, awareness of these traditions and separation from them."

The exhibition will feature the following artists:
Erna Aaltonen, Arni Aromaa, Christine Candolin, Priska Falin, Camilla Groth, Merja Haapala, Risto Hämäläinen, Emma Helle, Åsa Hellman, Markku Hirvelä, Kerttu Horila, Fujiwo Ishimoto, Sakari Kannosto, Kirsi Kivivirta, working group Nathalie Lahdenmäki and Naoto Niidome, working group Olli Larjo and Lasse Wallenius, Tuula Lehtinen, Matias Liimatainen, Riikka Mäkikoskela, Jarmo Mäkilä, Tiia Matikainen, Saana Murtti, Maritta Nurmi, Soile Paasonen, Pekka Paikkari, Laura Pehkonen, Pauliina Pöllänen, Merja Ranki, Päivi Rintaniemi, Kristina Riska, Riitta Rönkkö, Sami Ruotsalainen, Johanna Rytkölä, Anneli Sainio, Caroline Slotte, Tuuli Somma, Kirsti Taiviola, Riitta Talonpoika, Veera Tamminen, Tiina Vainio, Jyrki Valkola, Iina Vuorivirta and Karin Widnäs.

The jury:
Monika Gass, museum director, Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Germany
Maija Helasvuo, sculptor, The Finnish Association of Sculptors
Suvi Saloniemi, curator, Design Museum
Kim Simonsson, sculptor, The Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo

The exhibition will be open 10 October 2014 - 11 January 2015 at Design Museum in Helsinki, Korkeavuorenkatu 23! 
Warmly welcome!