Juhana Moisander’s Ode to Father consists of three parts, leading the viewer in the middle of a spiritual struggle of three. By stepping into the gallery, the viewer starts a series of events, in the centre of which a singer boy makes a performance taken to its extremes.
Thematically Ode to Father leads us to examine human faith, beliefs and the need to be heard. We bargain for mercy, for redemption. We present our wishes to be fulfilled by saints, by idols and other objects of worship – at times we try to become like them. Our faith is undermined by promises left unfulfilled and the lack of being heard.
Ode to Father laughs out loud to humanity and its role models. It laughs at the secular life and all the efforts that never amounted to any learning. But what awaits us in the end? Darkness smacks its mouth as the mundane and the holy battle each other for the sake of attention.
Moisander combines video projections, sound and objects always adapting his piece to the given space and its architecture. Even though the works often refer strongly to art history and written texts, are his works still strongly connected to the every day quality of being human. The artist himself is often seen performing as different characters in his works.
As the temptation and the fall take turns, the painfully simple creations in the space are prisoners of their own gestures. Moisander stands at the brink of the fundamental questions: where is the line between good and evil drawn? Is any one of us eventually the master of our own destiny? With death breathing down his neck the artist plays with dark humour submitting himself to his own evaluation.
Juhana Moisander (b. 1977) has shown his video works in numerous international solo and group exhibitions. Recently his works have been seen e.g. Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art (Turku, Finland) and The Finnish Museum of Photography (Helsinki, Finland). Moisander graduated with an MA from University of Art and Design Helsinki (currently Aalto University) in 2007. www.juhanamoisander.com
30 Jan –22 Feb 2015
JUHANA MOISANDER
Ode to Father
Photographic Gallery Hippolyte
Yrjönkatu 8–10 courtyard, 00120 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Tue–Fri 12–17, Sat–Sun 12–16
Image: Juhana Moisander, Ode to Father (detail), 2015. Installation in three parts (two video projections, motion dtector, sound, microphone, curtain, shoes)