Mostly Happy – Finnish Art Today

event photo — Aurora Reinhard, Cindy (2015), Inkjet-print, 94 x 80,5 cm. Courtesy Zetterberg Gallery

Art works by Martti Aiha, Elina Brotherus, Miklos Gaál, Hanaleena Heiska, Ulla Jokisalo, Antti Laitinen, Niina Lehtonen Braun, Aurora Reinhard, Toni R. Toivonen and Kari Vehosalo.

The exhibition presents ten artists who allow an insight into the diversity and the quality of Finnish contemporary art. On one hand, their works are connected to the codes and discourses of the global art world. On the other hand, one can identifiy country-specific references to the history, society and most of all to the nature of the country.

An ambiguous image of sorts, the title Mostly Happy – Finnish Art Today touches on the corresponding difference between self-image and external perception. For the second time in a row, Finland took first place in the World Happiness Report (2019 and 2018) – the same position that it holds on the Good Country Index, published in 2019. The country has a high average income, well-developed social systems and outstanding schools, which entered the collective consciousness of the German population with aplomb at the beginning of the new millennium, following the publication of the PISA studies. Finland is safe, stable, and the populace has great confidence in its government and administration. But what lies behind the seemingly perfect facade of this still young country? The works in the exhibition mark different fault lines within a complex contemporary experience.

Provisionalley program:

July 4, 2019, 7 p.m.
Guided tour with the curator

August 8, 2019, 7 p.m.
artist talk with Niina Lehtonen Braun and Marc Wellmann, moderated by Julia Rosenbaum