The exhibition traces the ten-year history of performance art by Katri Kainulainen and Maximilian Latva – from one fleeting yet long-prepared performance to another, from one country and period to the next.
Their performances leave in their wake shattered gender stereotypes, frayed trauma and neurosis, births and deaths, the straitjackets of role-play and power. What endures are humanity’s age-old myths and the seeds of mutual acceptance we have always relied on to navigate the world.
The exhibition is accompanied by a book that traces the duo’s creative journey. Its six essays approach this elusive, logic-defying art form each from its distinct perspective and offer possible routes for the interpretation of performance art.
– Pessi Rautio
Globus Hystericus transforms Forum Box Gallery with performance videos and photographs. An installation of costumes and objects from the duo’s performances brings the tangible dimension of their practice into the exhibition space. The opening also marks the launch of a book that presents Kainulainen & Latva’s art in words and images, published by Kustannus Oy Taide.
Kainulainen and Latva are partners in life as well as art. Their performances are defined by a visceral presence and a child-like visual clarity. Costumes and objects made from scrap and rubbish are essential collaborators in the duo’s wordless rituals. From the intimate tension between the pair an image emerges – a living tableau generating a soundscape that verges on experimental music.
For the past decade, Kainulainen & Latva have been performing across Europe. Their recent engagements include Centre d´art hybride SOMA in Marseille, North Atlantic House in Copenhagen, Riga Performance Festival, and Nuuk Art Museum in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). In Finland, they have performed at venues such as Mad House, Kiasma Theatre and Palsa Museum, as well as galleries including Huuto, Third Space, Mältinranta, and Forum Box.
Thank You:
Kone Foundation
Finnish Cultural Foundation
Arts Promotion Centre Finland
Alfred Kordelin Foundation
Saastamoinen Foundation
Svenska kulturfonden
Konstsamfundet
Eugène, Elisabeth och Birgit Nygréns stiftelse
AV technology: Kunstventures Oy
Image editing: Petri Virtanen and Timo Setälä
Mentoring: Jukka Korkeila and Vaida Tamoševičiūtė
NB: The works in the exhibition contain nudity and sexual content that is not suitable for children.
Photo: Muriel Bourdeau.
ps. 14.8. at 19.00, A performance by Kainulainen & Latva during the Night of Arts. Free entry, welcome!
Mediabox