Espoo Museum of Modern Art

New display completes Saastamoinen Foundation’s Dialogues exhibition at EMMA

Thao Nguyen Phan, On Illusion from the series Solar Noon, 2022 (left); Elmgreen & Dragset, Powerless Structures, Fig 101, 2012 (right). Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection © Paula Virta / EMMA
Thao Nguyen Phan, On Illusion from the series Solar Noon, 2022 (left); Elmgreen & Dragset, Powerless Structures, Fig 101, 2012 (right). Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection © Paula Virta / EMMA

The third part of Saastamoinen Foundation’s Dialogues collection exhibition has opened at EMMA. This new display completes the selection that has gradually replaced the earlier Touch exhibition. More than 40 new works will now be on display, including internationally recognised names not previously seen in Finland, as well as emerging Finnish artists.

Based on an open dialogue between artworks, the Dialogues exhibition presents Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection through regularly updated displays at EMMA. The newly completed presentation makes use of the intimate scale of the smaller galleries, creating focused dialogues between the works. The visual and material relationships of the artworks generate shifting moods, moments of surprise, and opportunities for reflection. The selection includes works that address topical questions of power, representation, and the role of art in a changing world.

VALIE EXPORT, Aktionshose: Genitalpanik (Action Pants: Genital Panic), 1969–2001 (left), Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me – Pfeifenbündel, 2023 (right). Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection © Paula Virta / EMMA

The new hanging of the Dialogues exhibition features works by Pamela Brandt, Océane Bruel, Curtis Cuffie, Rineke Dijkstra, Elmgreen & Dragset, VALIE EXPORT, Sami Havia, Hannaleena Heiska, Markku Keränen, Lebohang Kganye, Markus Konttinen, Matthew Krishanu, Paul McCarthy, Thao Nguyen Phan, Howardena Pindell, Pol Taburet, Emilia Tanner, Toni Vallasjoki and Xiao Zhiyu. In addition, one of the exhibition halls is dedicated to works depicting the human in different ways by Mirja Airas, Milla Aska, Gösta Diehl, Marlene Dumas, Marjatta Hanhijoki, Chantal Joffe, Sanya Kantarovsky, Markus Lüpertz, Olavi Martikainen, Åke Mattas, Elina Merenmies, Elizabeth Peyton, Janne Räisänen, Dana Schutz, Mari Sunna, Antti Tanttu, Rosemarie Trockel and Rafael Wardi

The previous parts of the Dialogues exhibition opened in 2023 and 2024. The curatorial team for the third part comprises experts from Saastamoinen Foundation Art Committee – Päivi KarttunenJani Ruscica and Anna Tuori – together with EMMA’s curators Laura Eweis and Tero Hytönen.

Work by artists: Elizabeth Peyton, Åke Mattas, Elina Merenmies and Chantal Joffe. Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection © Paula Virta / EMMA

In the media space of the Dialogues exhibition, Mohamed Bourouissa’s (b. 1978) film The Genealogy of Violence is on view. Considered one of the most significant French artists of his generation, Bourouissa often addresses societal themes and the experiences of immigrants in his video and photographic works. The Genealogy of Violence is set in an ordinary French suburb, where two police officers suddenly interrupt a couple conversing in their car. The video work is on view until 22 March 2026.

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