12.02.2019
This exhibition is the first retrospective overview of the work of internationally renowned artist Salla Tykkä in Finland. Tykkä works mainly with video and photography.
8.2.–19.5.2019 Salla Tykkä
Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Itäinen Rantakatu 38, Turku
Events and guided tours
- Artist meetings on Saturday 23 February and 27 April at 1 p.m.
- Guided tours in Finnish on Sundays at 2 pm
- Trilogia film screenings on Saturdays at 2, 3 and 4 p.m. and on Wednesday 27 February, 27 March, 24 April and 15 May at 5 p.m.
- wam.fi/en
The earliest works in the exhibition are from the late 1990s, and the latest Untitled (White – Alps) is from 2019.
In her video works, Tykkä employs the narrative means of cinema, but deviates from conventional plot arcs. Their narratives often contain more gaps than final solutions. The emotional charge and tensions are constructed through precise visual storytelling and sound design instead of dialogue. Tykkä utilises the methods of documentary films, such as archive photos and interviews.
The exhibition also includes photographs. Alongside the varying themes, Tykkä has photographed herself throughout her career. The portraits are autobiographical, but they share the theme of body control, power and discipline with her other works.
Who is looking and how?
The pervasive themes of the display are gaze, power and gender. In her earliest works, Tykkä has dealt with the gendered gaze. Whereas in her recent works, Tykkä has reflected on the Western and colonialist gaze and its problematic nature.
Tykkä’s most recent work Untitled (White - Alps) shifts the perspective from the personal to a broader perspective, to cultural meanings related to landscapes and culture-specific concepts of the universe. The travelogue, shot on analogue film, moves along with the currents of air in a hot air balloon with a view over the Alps, bathing in the light of the dawn.
The recent history of video art is also part of the show. The series of short films, entitled Trilogia, shot on film, is only exhibited as screenings, which highlights the act of watching a film as a collective experience and film as a time-dependent medium.
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