Kiasma Commission by Kordelin

Emma Jääskeläinen's exhibition Proper Omelette ends the three-year Kiasma Commission by Kordelin project on January 10, 2021. In a new initiative launched in 2017 as a collaboration between the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and the Alfred Kordelin Foundation, three magnificent, extensive commissioned works by three artists were created for Kiasma. The artists were Maija Luutonen, Alma Heikkiä and Emma Jääskeläinen.

The aim was to raise emerging local artists to international recognition and at the same time increase the international visibility of Finnish contemporary art. Each project consisted of the production of works and publishing an exhibition catalogue, a solo exhibition at Kiasma, and support for the exhibition tour and international relations for each artist. All the commissioned artworks are included in the collection of the Finnish National Gallery.

Maija Luutonen, Kiasma Commission 2018
Patch by Maija Luutonen is the first artwork in the Kiasma Commission by Kordelin series. The artist has created an installation consisting of paintings, printouts, objects and textiles with some of the objects left lying on the floor, and painted panels leaning against the wall. The first instalment of the commissioned work at Kiasma’s Studio K was one suggestion of how to exhibit the installation. The future forms of the installation will be different each time and responsive to each context. Luutonen is known for her paintings on paper that flicker between the abstract and the figurative. She is interested in the properties of materials and painted surfaces, as well as in images, language and communication. In her new work, Luutonen has ventured beyond painting into a three-dimensional installation.  

Alma Heikkilä, Kiasma Commission 2019
Alma Heikkilä was the second artist invited to make a commissioned artwork. In her practice Heikkilä addresses a shared global concern about the human impacts on the environment and the multispecies inhabitats. Alma Heikkilä is interested in the coexistence of different life forms. Her paintings depict bacteria, algae, and insects, as well as their habitats: intestines, seas, decaying wood, and forest ecosystems. Heikkilä examines microscopic organisms that have a close relationship with the human body. She is aware of the many ways she is dependent on others: bacteria regulate bodily functions, and to some extent, the materials of the artworks follow their own rules independently of the artist. The work arises from a network of agents that includes microbes, researchers and other artists, and that all affect Heikkilä’s practice.  

Emma Jääskeläinen, Kiasma Commission 2020
The third work in the Kiasma Commission by Kordelin series was chosen  to be exhibited in the iconic foyer of the museum. The foyer is Steven Holl’s architectural monument in itself and one of the most photographed spaces in the museum, and consequently, art is rarely displayed there. Emma Jääskeläinen’s artwork Proper Omelette is a sculpture family that spreads out through Kiasma’s 1st floor foyer and the 2nd floor balcony. The work consists of two stone sculptures, a textile piece, and a bronze sculpture. The starting point for the sculptures is the human body and the experiences embedded in its memory. Physical tiredness, sweating, and aches are also part of a sculptor’s work. Links to the artist’s family members and small everyday objects can be found in the work. The title of the piece Proper Omelette, according to the artist, consists of the idea of birth, maturing, and the blending of memories, fact and fiction. 

Co-operation in funding art
The aim of the Kiasma Commission series has been to create a new type of production method at the intersection of the public and private sectors, and, first and foremost, to gain international visibility for artists working in Finland. The artworks have been produced as part of the Kiasma and the Finnish National Gallery’s collection, with the support of the Alfred Kordelin Foundation.

“The attention received by the commissioned pieces and their creators is already observable as an increased interest from international curators and critics, and as exhibition opportunities. The introductory trips for international critics and journalists that have been arranged in conjunction with the projects have brought ample media visibility not only to the three artists in the series: Maija Luutonen, Alma Heikkilä, and Emma Jääskeläinen, but also broader publicity to Finnish contemporary art, the Kiasma programme, and the lively Finnish art scene. The magnificent series of Kiasma Commission by Kordelin pieces deserves continuation, and we will do our best to find a new sponsor for future years’ commissioned art works for Kiasma’s collections,” Museum Director Leevi Haapala sums up the projects first three years.  

Kiasma is closed for renovations and will reopen in spring 2022. We wish you all best for 2021 and see you in 2022!