Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Petri Virtanen
Ann Veronica Janssens
My main material is light
Kiasma Museum Of Contemporary Art
Mannerheiminaukio 2, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
12 October - 13 January, 2018
Light art by Belgium-based artist Ann Veronica Janssens fills the galleries on the two top floors of Kiasma in Janssens’ first solo show in Finland.
Janssens has been fascinated by light and associated phenomena ever since she was a child. Many of her works are based on light interacting with liquids, fog, reflecting surfaces and the surrounding space. Janssens seeks to heighten our awareness of these fleeting sensory phenomena.
In her art, Janssens explores ordinary physical phenomena in highly visible ways. She often finds inspiration for her works in lucky coincidences.
Bicycling on the Fifth Floor
One of the highlights of the show is chromed bicycles that visitors can ride in the large gallery on the fifth floor of Kiasma. Janssens wants to offer the cyclists and other viewers a completely new experience of the space, drawing attention to the transparent materiality of the light and air around us.
Other works in the show includes Orange Sky Blue, a landscape of light that is visible outside the museum from Mannerheimintie, and Untitled (White Glitter), consisting of glitter strewn about the gallery floor at random.
Janssens likes to use surprising materials in her work, such as paraffin oil and reflective surfaces.
Minimal and Subtle
Janssens typically uses only a few materials in her works. For her, art consists not of an object but an experience evoked by light, colour, sound and movement.
The minimalist works invite visitors to move around them and examine them from different angles, to sharpen their senses and to be surprised. Not everything is what it seems at first.