Group Exhibition
The Book of the WORD

09.06. - 02.07.2017

GUEST CURATOR MICHAEL PETRY

The Spring season at Helsinki Contemporary ends with the group exhibition The Book of the WORD, that brings together 18 internationally acclaimed contemporary artists from Finland, Great Britain and North America. For many of the artists the exhibition marks a debut in Finland. With paintings, sculptures and video works from artists such as Maria Chevska, Jukka Korkeila, Liliane Lijn, Pilvi Takala and Gavin Turk, the exhibition looks into the particular area of art making that involves language. Running from June 9 trough July 2, it has been curated by Michael Petry, Texas-born artist and curator based in London for over two decades and currently the Director of MOCA London. The exhibition curated by Petry is based on a namesake book, to be published in 2018 (Thames & Hudson). He has been invited to Helsinki Contemporary as part of the gallery’s new HC Guest Curator programme (more about the progamme here).

MICHAEL PETRY: "ART MAKERS ARE THE NEW PEOPLE OF THE WORD, AND THAT WORD IS ART"

There have been claims regarding the death of the book, how words in a particular form are losing their value in commercial terms. Models of marketing words are coming into the real world of publishing be it how to sell a newspaper or read a book on an electronic device. The Book of the WORD looks at text as a form of art and asks how is it different from poetry. Can the poetic be visual art or is it merely a catchphrase? Can the artworks in the exhibition extend further from mere clickbating or copywriting?

Artists featured in the exhibition are Colin Booth (UK), Maria Chevska (UK), Nathan Coley (UK), Paul Coombs (UK), Elizabeth Croft (UK/NO), Mark Flood (USA), Lukas Göthman (SE), Nicky Hirst (UK), Joseph Imhauser (USA), Jukka Korkeila (FI), Liliane Lijn (USA), Christina Mitrentse (UK), Robert Montgomery (UK), Bryan Mulvihill (CA), Harvey Opgenorth (USA), Michael Petry (USA), Pilvi Takala (FI) and Gavin Turk (UK).