Anna-Kaisa Ant-Wuorinen
Downs and Ups
Galleria Huuto Jätkäsaari, Jätkä 1 ja Pikkujätkä
9.12.-29.12.2017
1–17 December, ARTag Gallery
9–29 December, Galleria Huuto Jätkäsaari, Jätkä 1 & Pikkujätkä
Anna-Kaisa Ant-Wuorinen (b. 1957) has created a two-part exhibition and both parts can be seen in Helsinki in December 2017. The name of the exhibition is Downs and Ups and the first part will be open to the public as of 1 December at ARTag Gallery in Hietalahti and the second part as of 9 December at Galleria Huuto in Jätkäsaari.
The exhibition was developed after the artist’s wooden house, which was built for her family and in which she lived for decades, burned down a few years ago. Ant-Wuorinen defines the exhibition as a sort of retrospective. After everything was destroyed, she was forced to consider what was left.
Four years before the fire, Ant-Wuorinen was widowed and paralyzed by grief. The fire changed everything. Everything that she had lived amidst for half of her life was gone. The fire destroyed all her belongings including books and art, also her own sculptures. Their traces were, however, left in the house.
“Books have always been very important to my family. Some 5,000 books were destroyed in the fire. I remember which books were on which shelves. When photographing the traces of the books, I realized how much they have influenced all of us,” Ant-Wuorinen says.
The fire brought back Ant-Wuorinen’s passion for her work. She is a material-oriented sculptor who has worked with, for example, plastic and steel. In her works, the material is part of the content and the working methods add a narrative element. Now her burnt home has served as a starting point for her work. The means of documentation have been varied as, due to the tragic event, charcoal, tar and soot replaced the previously used materials.
“After the initial shock, I forced myself to look at the devastation with new eyes. I forced myself to go through about half of my life. I also rediscovered great moments of happiness,” Ant-Wuorinen summarizes.
Anna-Kaisa Ant-Wuorinen earned a Master of Science (Tech.) degree from the Helsinki University of Technology in 1983 and completed her visual arts studies at Art School MAA in 1990. She has had several solo exhibitions, for example at Galleria Sculptor and Galleria Kari Kenetti in Helsinki. Her works are included in the collection of the Helsinki Art Museum and in the Finnish state art collection.
The exhibition has been supported by:
Arts Promotion Centre Finland | Arts Council of Uusimaa
Further information:
Anna-Kaisa Ant-Wuorinen, tel. +358 50 363 2257
ARTag Gallery / Veikko Halmetoja, tel. +358 44 215 3005
Galleria Huuto / Henni Oksman, tel. +358 400 653 461
