Waterfall at the Art Museum – Meta Isæus-Berlin’s major solo exhibition premieres in Finland

Meta Isæus-Berlin (b. 1963) is one of Sweden’s leading contemporary artists. She gained recognition in 1993 with her large-scale commissioned works, which were groundbreaking also in Sweden at the time. Her solo exhibition will showcase her 30-year career with a selection of around 50 works, including ten installations never seen before in Finland. The title piece of the exhibition, The Philosopher, is a self-portrait of the artist cast in bronze.

This solo exhibition at the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art is Isæus-Berlin’s first major appearance in Finland. Her forms of expression showcase refined technical skill, often incorporating interesting materials such as water, oil, dough, and textiles. Drawings, object compositions, textile works, paintings, sculptures, and installations are woven together into a cohesive synthesis. They illustrate the artist’s evolution from her early works to more recent pieces, some of which have been created specifically for this exhibition.

Awakening III, created specifically for the Kuntsi exhibition, references Duchamp

Isæus-Berlin creates sculptural installations using everyday furniture from ordinary homes. She has consistently explored the themes of home and memories in her work, posing questions rather than providing ready-made answers.

She has repeatedly revisited the chaotically flooded bathroom in her work, as in Awakening III, created specifically for the Kuntsi exhibition. The installation references Marcel Duchamp’s iconic urinal Fountain (1917), but Isæus-Berlin has transformed it into a visual representation of the turmoil and chaotic disorder that life inevitably brings to us all from time to time.

Isæus-Berlin works in a variety of media with painting being one of her main forms of expression. In her large-scale paintings, the artist positions herself as both a storyteller and a colourist. The narrative content of the paintings does not shy away from negative emotions, like the bottomless black hole that devours all energy. The paintings also visualise things that are difficult to talk about, such as the insecurities of adolescence or the reality of being a teenager. In addition to installations and paintings, the artist has used textiles as a medium, such as organza in the delicate Återblickens transparens (2004).

An internationally recognised artist

Isæus-Berlin graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Konstfack) in Stockholm in 1993 and was awarded the highly esteemed Bonnier Prize the same year. Her work has been exhibited internationally at numerous biennials, including those in Istanbul, Johannesburg, Melbourne, and Venice, as well as in exhibitions worldwide. Isæus-Berlin has also held extensive solo exhibitions at Prins Eugen’s Waldemarsudde in 2019 and Liljevalchs in 2006. In Finland, only the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma holds works by Isæus-Berlin in its collection. The artist’s family has also made its mark on the townscape of Vaasa with the Swedish architect Magnus Isæus (1841–1890) having designed the Vaasa City Hall.

The Philosopher exhibition includes loans from private collections as well as from Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Helsingborg Museum, and Malmö Art Museum. The exhibition is on display only in Vaasa and has been produced by the Vaasa Museums in collaboration with the artist herself. The exhibition is curated by Exhibition Manager Maaria Salo and Museum Curator Janna Sirén. A publication of the exhibition is also available.

The exhibition has received funding from the Veljekset Gröndahlin Säätiö Foundation and the Finnish Heritage Agency. It has also been selected for the national ‘Art Testers’ project for the 2024–2025 period.

Meta Isæus-Berlin will present her art and the exhibition at an artists’ meeting on Saturday 2 November at 13:00 in Swedish and 15:00 in English. The event is included in the price of admission to the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art.