What does time look like? Art in Central Finland 1975–1997

Bold experimentalism and novel breakthroughs propelled the emergence of a generation of young artists. Grand narratives gave way to expressing subjective emotions and experience. Jyväskylä Art Museum’s exhibition takes you on a time travel into the recent past of art from Central Finland. The extensive exhibition features a selection from the most interesting works in Jyväskylä Art Museum’s art collections from 1975–1997.

Finnish art became more international and female artists had a major breakthrough: Several of the most notable artists of the time were women who sent shockwaves with their large-scale paintings. Artists were influenced by pop culture. The international ARS exhibition series brought video and media works into the consciousness of a larger public.

In Central Finland graphic art and photography took centre stage. It all started with the establishment Finland’s first municipal graphic workshop in Jyväskylä in 1978. The workshop’s active vibe attracted a large number of graphic artists to Jyväskylä. The Graphica Creativa triennial which has been running since 1975 brought international influences to the city. Indeed Jyväskylä became the centre of graphic art in Finland during the 1980s.

A group of photographic artists from Jyväskylä called Fotogenesis actively sought to bring photography on par with other art forms. At the end of the 1980s Jyväskylä was also the birthplace for the Centre for Creative Photography (Luovake) and the international photography triennial LUMO.

The title of the exhibition - What does time look like? – is a retort artist Veikko Hirvimäki used in 1984 when his work was criticized as being too abstract. The new pluralistic and ambiguous time was also causing confusion.

Artist Riitta Uusitalo’s creation, a character called Mr. Moosehill, can be found going around the exhibition examining and commenting on the works in his own original style. The exhibition’s works and content can also be found at the online exhibition at miltanayttaaaika.keskisuomentaide.fi.

Featured artists: Anne Alho, Tuomo Blomqvist, Graham Budgett, Klaus Elle, Alvar Gullichsen, Carolus Enckell, Adrian Gonzalez, Anna-Liisa Hakkarainen, Jussi Heikkilä, Outi Heiskanen, Pekka Helin, Mikko Hietaharju, Veikko Hirvimäki, Jan van der Horn, Unto Hämäläinen, Urpu Ilasmaa, Ragnheidur Jónsdóttir, Kimmo Kaivanto, Kapa, Juho Karjalainen, Harald Karsten, Ilkka Keskinen, Jarmo Kurki, Sakari Marila, Jyrki Markkanen, Marika Mäkelä, Kirsi Neuvonen, Marjatta Nuoreva, Tetsuya Noda, Kuutti Lavonen, Juha Ojansivu, Tuula Ollikainen, Salvatore Puglia, Olli Puusaari, Wojciech Prazmowski, Raimo Reinikainen, Silja Rantanen, Matti Salmi, Jan Saudek, Kimmo Schroderus, Takahashi Shu, Eeva-Liisa Sorainen, Tarja Teräsvuori, Walasse Ting, Riitta Uusitalo, Jaakko Valo, Osmo Valtonen, Matti Vaskilampi, Ulla Virta.

Inquiries: Jyväskylä Art Museum, Curator of Collections Jaana Oikari, tel. + 358 (0)50 311 8903, jaana.oikari(at)jkl.fi.