Monstrous Wonders

Borås Art Museum is dedicating a major exhibition to Finland as an art nation and takes a close look at its contemporary art scene, featuring seven prominent Finnish artists. Current themes such as existential issues, behaviour patterns, world views, mysticism, the environment and power can be traced throughout the exhibition, where the bizarre and the poetic meet the humorous and challenging. Based on our conviction of the strong and exciting Finnish art scene, we now explore this more closely. Also, Borås has long and firm ties with Finland through the Administrative Zone, where one in ten living in Borås has Finnish ancestry. The major immigration of labour from Finland to the textile industry in Borås has been vital to the building of the City’s identity. One thing that has become clear in the increased tension in the world is that the bond between Sweden and Finland has grown even stronger and the already close cooperation deepened.

The visual emphasis of the exhibition is on three-dimensional art and moving images. Apart from their conceptually artistic aspects, there is a narrative side to the works, and humour and playfulness are also important elements. Their sense of humour is often of a darker variety, balancing the serious content. Altogether, this forms a powerful weapon that creates detachment and reflection, uncovering underlying structures, behaviours and absurd phenomena in life. Other perspectives that are highlighted are what drives us, and the consequences. How we fill our lives with meaning in these times, and our behaviour patterns. The works focus on power positioning, consumerism and digital technology, interweaving the natural and the artificial. The exhibition looks at humanitarian ideas on meaning and our place in the universe, the transience of life and time, what we do with our time on earth and what we do to the earth. How do we navigate this enormous and complex existence that we are faced with? Topics that become even more urgent in times of crisis. Philosophical, existential, material and human aspects are presented through art.

The presence and exploration of natural elements are portrayed in different ways, more tangibly and physically, or in representations of conditions in nature, illustrating environmental and climate issues, two of the most urgent problems of our time. Nature’s crucial importance to human life has been expressed in many ways over the ages. It has always been an inspiration to artists and a key source of recreation. It has also served as a technological and financial resource, which raises the issue of the Anthropocene, the age where human activities and exploitation have had a considerable impact on the earth’s environment and climate. Our environment can also consist of places of our daily lives, our collective society, the private sphere, and relate to questions of status, power, violence and oppression.

Several works offer a parallel version of the world, which can sometimes seem very close to reality, sometimes twisted and distant, where undefined foreign elements are given space. Other aspects are the presence of an unknown dimension and the sense of something invested with power and even magic. The human quest contains a spiritual perspective, reflections on the existence of animate nature, staring into the cosmos and wondering at the sublimity of being, which has been demonstrated and interpreted by philosophers, theologians, scientists and artists.

This exhibition is a quotidian contemplation on the big questions in life, darkness and light. The works of art show us the familiar in new guises, prompting us to think and question what our world actually looks like. By paying attention to the small, repeated events and patterns that make up the larger picture, we can influence these things and consciously find our way among life’s monstrous wonders.

The participating artists in the exhibition are Anna Estarriola, Ida Koitila, Antti Laitinen, Antti-Ville Reinikainen, Heli Ryhänen, Emma Rönnholm and Noora Schroderus.

Curator and text Caroline Gustafsson