Elements (worktitle)

The common denominator for the two summer exhibitions at Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art is Ulrika Ferm. She served as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Helsinki from 2013 to 2020. Together with Professor of Art History and Theory Riikka Stewen, she is teaching the thematic theory course Elements and Energy during 2024-2025. The goal of this course is a group exhibition featuring alumni from the Academy of Fine Arts and current art students. It is based on the four classical elements: earth, water, air and fire. The concept, which delves into new materialism, highlights material as the energy of art.

Artists selected for the group exhibition at Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art include Shoji Kato (b. 1969), Astri Laitinen (b. 1992), and Kati Roover (b. 1982). The group exhibition is based on the ongoing art student course Elements and Energy. This course explores not only the classical elements but also ecological thinking and practices in contemporary art, and how the relationship between humans and other living beings relates to the earth’s resources. The exhibition also reflects on various seasons, nature’s cycles geographically or as a whole universe. The artists’ practices are based on different new materialist perspectives.

The exhibition is produced by Vaasa Museums/Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with the Pro Artibus Foundation and the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Helsinki. The exhibition team consists of Ulrika Ferm, Mikaela Lostedt, Maaria Salo, and Riikka Stewen.