Kiasma’s new collection exhibition reveals the evocative spectrum of materials used in contemporary artworks.
The exhibition has been compiled from the Finnish National Gallery collections, with items dating from the 1970s to the present. In these selected works, the material is a key part of the content: layers of paint fold like fabric, optical fibre forms a lacey blanket, and clothes resembling national costumes are made out of plastic bags.
The selected artworks highlight the way that contemporary art changes with society. Artists’ use of materials reflects changes in the culture and developments ranging from greater environmental awareness to digitalisation and the growing popularity of handicrafts. Classic works of contemporary art, such as Jacob Dahlgren’s The Wonderful World of Abstraction (2009) and Maria Duncker’s National Costumes IV (1998), form the cornerstones of the exhibition.
Rock, Paper, Scissors exhibition delves into many of the fundamental questions in contemporary art: Why does contemporary art look the way it does? What do the choices of material tell us? What kind of material are sounds – or thoughts – for an artist? The exhibition also raises questions of authorship and contemplates modes of perception.
The material choices made in contemporary art open up viewpoints on a variety of social phenomena. New technologies, such as 3D printing and advances in photographic technology, are changing our relationship with the world and with different materials. Environmental awareness has also changed the way many artists approach their materials – the material does not have to be dominated, art can be made on the material’s own terms.
The exhibition, put together from the Finnish National Gallery’s collections, features works by 52 artists.
Exhibition artists
Martti Aiha, Dylan Ray Arnold & Océane Bruel, Inka Bell, Sissel M Bergh, Joseph Beuys, Sara Bjarland, Marcel Broodthaers, Baran Caginli, Nina Canell, Jacob Dahlgren, A K Dolven, Maria Duncker, Wade Guyton, Teuri Haarla, Eeva-Mari Haikala, Terhi Heino, Helena Hietanen, Reijo Hukkanen, Ann Veronica Janssens, Ulla Jokisalo, Ona Juciūtė, Donald Judd, Lasse Juuti, Marja Kanervo, Eeva Karhu, Olli Keränen, Kihwa-Endale, Tarik Kiswanson, Mikko Kuorinki, The Monday Collective, J O Mallander, Esse McChesney, Golrokh Nafisi, Maurizio Nannucci, Robertas Narkus, Claes Oldenburg, Sini Pelkki, Ari Pelkonen, Pearla Pigao, Michelangelo Pistoletto, James Prevett, Tiina Raitanen, Taneli Rautiainen, Nina Roos, Jarkko Räsänen, Krišs Salmanis, Richard Serra & Carlota Fay Schoolman, Mika Taanila, Antoni Tàpies, Nora Tapper, Marianna Uutinen, Man Yau
Curators: Saara Hacklin, Saara Karhunen, Satu Oksanen
Rock, Paper, Scissors – Kiasma’s collection exhibition will be on display 14.2.2025–18.1.2026.
Kiasma, Helsinki
