Superb

Kiasma - Ars Fennica '07
Originally uploaded by scrabster.

The best thing in Christmas holidays is that you are allowed to break the normal rhythm. Yesterday I stayed up until 2.30 a.m. with no guilt. Today I just got back from my friend's club (2.30 a.m.) and do not feel like going to bed so I won't. This is one of the things that makes me consider full-time freelancing.

I went today with my parents to the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma here in Helsinki. Their big exhibition on Landscapes was as boring as it's title (Landscape) but the smaller exhibition showing the four candidates for the Ars Fennica prize made me smile. Good things are happening at the moment in Finnish contemporary art. Two of those wonderful things are called Elina Brotherus and Anna Tuori.

Brotherus is an already rather well-known for her photography where she mostly works with herself as the model. This time in the exhibition she uses video and photography for tackling nudity. Especially the video work (some in pic) struck me. Somehow it reminds me of my discussions on Finnish nudity concept with my Macedonian flatmate who visited Finland this summer. Brotherus' art (most of it - some makes you feel awkward) addresses nudity as something normal, pure and innocent.

At Kiasma they had a voting for the People's Prize for Ars Fennica. In the end I ended up voting for the painter Anna Tuori. She - as Brotherus - addresses Finland and Finnishness but challenges it with brighter colours and by using heavy brushes of paint. She goes a pit on the footsteps of van Gogh leaving her paintings full of spots and brushstrokes. The result is pure beauty, both in landscapes and when painting people.

I knew Brotherus already but must confess that I had never hear of Tuori before. That is why she got my vote in the end. She managed to surprise me with her superbness.