SANNA KANNISTO Fieldwork
13.5.–19.6.2011
Gallery Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary has the great pleasure of presenting Sanna Kannisto’s first solo show at the gallery. Sanna Kannisto (b. 1974, Hämeenlinna) works in lens-based media. Her body of work combines the strong personal narrative and the idea of photography as objective documentation.
The exhibition Fieldwork presents Kannisto’s new photographic works that relate to the current topic of the terrain that separates the sciences and the arts. Kannisto observes natural phenomena such as rain, streams, spider webs, bird calls, plant reactions, snake movements but also her own individual position as actor, experiencer or explorer in producing and interpreting the data.
The presentation is a continuation of the themes Kannisto has been working with closely for many years. She examines, not just the curious species of the rainforests but also metaphors of seeing and the codes of scientific visualization. Kannisto’s body of work can be studied as a performance: she creates miniature studios that function as both laboratory and stage for the photographic process. The images focus on plants and animals that one could rarely hope to see in their natural habitat, however the theatrical presentation distances us from the actual subject matter. Her style is at the same time demanding and delicate.
The book Fieldwork published by Aperture Foundation will be released in Finland simultaneously with the exhibition. It is the first major monograph by Sanna Kannisto and also the first book by Aperture on a Finnish photographic artist. British art historian, emeritus professor Steve Barker, University of Central Lancashire, has written an essay on Kannisto’s practice for the publication. Barker has written widely on the representation and use of animals in contemporary art.
- Pilvi Kalhama
Sanna Kannisto has in the recent years become one of the most succesful young photographic artists from Finland. Her work has been exhibited around the world in 26 countries in Europe, USA and South America; Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; and the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki. Her work is represented in several public collections among them Centre Pompidou, Paris and the Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland.
The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
