PIRJETTA BRANDER | UNDERCURRENT
Serlachius Museum Gösta | 25 March–3 September 2023
Press release 22 March 2023
Pirjetta Brander depicts the undercurrents of life and human nature
Line and movement are at the centre of Pirjetta Brander’s art, be it drawings, animation, sculptures or graphics. From 25 March, Serlachius Museum Gösta presents Brander’s exhibition Undercurrent, comprising works of the artist’s production from 1996 to 2023.
The art of Pirjetta Brander (b. 1970) is simultaneously enchanting and uncompromising. She examines life without excluding the unpleasant phenomena that we know exist but do not want to think about, let alone discuss. The name of the exhibition, Undercurrent, also references this.
“It means searching for the truth, exploring it. The purpose of art is to unearth these matters. I’m no entertainer. I’m the type who voices unpleasant truths,” she emphasises.
The exhibition’s oldest works are drawings. We (1996–99), Paradise (1998) and Rat King (1999) describe Brander’s views on life and human nature on three different levels. We is a description of inner life, Paradise is a satire of good life, and Rat King is a kind of world explanation. Visually, they are intertwined.
Brimming with detail, Brander’s drawings have a wild surrealism and absurd humour. The artist says that art can be made out of anything. “In art, everything is possible; in life, not. In works, you can infinitely mix and juxtapose topics, ideas, characters, eras, emotions and opinions.”
Drawing underlies everything
According to Pirjetta Brander, all of her art is based on drawing, it is her mother tongue. Over the years, she has made art with many different techniques, but always returns to drawing, line and movement. In the Undercurrent exhibition, she has also returned to the black and white world of the 1990s.
In the animation Garden. Contemporary Version of Paradise (2009), a factory churns out bottles, ice cream cones, sausages and doughnuts from its tree-like chimneys, ultimately filling the whole environment. The work, created at the time of the banking crisis, refers to unsustainable consumerism, which threatens the entire world. The animation was made in collaboration with animator Laura Palosaari and composer Raoul Björkenheim.
The series of graphics Teeming Void (2022) was created during the pandemic. When the world locked down, the artist had lots of time to grasp the onerous dry needle technique. She engraved copper plates full with plant motifs. The printing work was done by graphic artist Janne Laine.
Pirjetta Brander, who currently lives in Mänttä-Vilppula, maintains an artist residency, a sculpture garden and a summer exhibition called Camping Site in the two properties she owns. Brander spends her winters in India, carving granite. The Undercurrent exhibition includes three granite sculptures made in India, in which movement and line are also an important component.
Press releases and photographs: https://serlachius.fi/en/for-media/
More about Pirjetta Brander: https://pirjettabrander.com
For further information and image requests, please contact:
Susanna Yläjärvi, Information Officer of the Serlachius Museums, tel. +358 50 560 0156, susanna.ylajarvi@serlachius.fi
The Serlachius Museums are open:
in the winter season, 1 September–31 May, from Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am–6 pm.
in the summer season, 1 June–31 August, every day 10 am–6 pm
Visiting addresses:
Serlachius Museum Gösta, Joenniementie 47, Mänttä
Serlachius Museum Gustaf, R. Erik Serlachiuksen katu 2, Mänttä
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