Located within the iconic functionalist Lasipalatsi building, the Helsinki art museum’s exhibition spaces lie under gently curving domes, that quickly have become a landmark in the city.
— The museum is built on the belief that ambitious art, whether new or old, can be presented in an inspiring, open-minded, exuberant, and stylish way. We aim to present the newest, often experimental, contemporary art and their Modern predecessors, says Iia Palovaara, head of communications.
The museum just opened its third edition of the annual Generation exhibition, which includes 50 young artists presenting almost 60 artworks.
— Generation is a triennale exhibition of young artists aged 15-23, says Anastasia Isakova, who’s curated Generation 2023. The exhibition has grown significantly from its first edition arranged at Amos Rex’s predecessor, Amos Anderson art museum, in 2017. The artists are selected through an open call and for this year’s edition, a total of 1,004 work proposals were submitted. The seven-member jury selected 50 artists and working pairs to participate in the exhibition. A broad spectrum of mediums is presented at the exhibition including painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, text-based, and video art as well as performance art.
And what do they show?
— The questions of identity construction are emphasized at this year’s exhibition. Artists ask questions about how they appear to themselves and others, how it feels living in their own body, and how they belong to a certain group of people. Thoughts about childhood, memory, growth, and play are seen in many works of the exhibition. Questions about the state of nature as well as various social and political events that are currently discussed are in the spotlight for a young generation of artists — and mental health issues and digital burnout caused by the pandemic as well as everyday life, routines, and boredom are highlighted in the artists’ works.
