|
Ars Fennica, the most prestigious art award on the Finnish cultural calendar, will be announced on 19 November, at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. Selected by Vincente Todoli (director of Tate Modern), the winner will be awarded a sizeable sum of 34,000 euros as well as receive a publication introducing their work and a travelling exhibition.
The Ars Fennica exhibit comprises five artists whose otherwise dissimilar work is united by common concerns for society, consumerism and the environment. From Jussi Kivi’s photographs of pristine Finnish wilderness and Petri Yrjölä’s large and abstracted oil paintings to Jyrki Riekki’s blatant and bold oil paintings, the exhibition has been cleverly curated – there are links between each body of work through both the themes and the use of space.
The overall tone of the event is somewhat morbid and bleak. Mika Karhu’s enormous, graphic charcoal pieces investigate man’s illusion of autonomy, his obsession with consumer culture and how this results in a loss of his mortality, corporeality and experience. Matti Kalkamo’s life-sized bronze sculptures undergo a series of metamorphoses. His work features a clergy of robed monks kneeling and praying. At first glance they look twisted and tortured but when their faces randomly light up, a more human and fragile side is exposed. I can’t help think that if only this installation was accompanied by a sound component – or isolated altogether the effect would have been greater.
It is exciting to speculate about who will succeed and receive the acclaimed award, but at the same time this is a pointless process. In reality, the judging and evaluating of art prizes will always be arbitrary. Regardless of the artists’ methodology, their craftsmanship or the way in which they seek
|
Ars Fennica
Until 10 Jan
Kiasma Museum of
Contemporary Art
www.kiasma.fi
|
to disrupt the accepted structures of the time it is ultimately up to the discretion and critical evaluation of whoever is judging it – this, of course, may not be the same as the next judge’s or even the viewers’ opinion – the decisive factor is personal taste. In any case the benefits of winning the Ars Fennica are obvious, and not just for the winner. The five contending artists will all receive more exposure and attention than they otherwise would.
Johnny Milner - HT |
