The Helsinki City Art Museum will open a retrospective exhibition of the works of Andres Serrano (born 1950), a US photographer of Cuban-Honduran origin, at the Tennis Palace.
The Helsinki City Art Museum will open a retrospective
exhibition of the works of Andres Serrano (born 1950), a US
photographer of Cuban-Honduran origin, at the
Tennis Palace. In the 1980s and 1990s, very few
photographers caused as much dispute as Serrano, and his
photographic comments on racism, freedom of speech and
the limits of artistic freedom have caused strong reactions
everywhere. His art deals with themes that are usually
considered taboo and addresses social issues, including
homelessness, violence, sexuality, religion, power and
otherness.
The retrospective at the Tennis Palace covers Serrano's
work in the 1980s and 1990s, including early abstract
compositions using urine, blood, semen and milk, and religious
symbols depicted in these fluids (including Piss Christ,
well-known for the uproar it caused in the United States).
More recent works include portraits of homeless people,
hooded Ku Klux Klan members, church workers, women
bodybuilders and a series on sexuality portraying people of
various ages and sexualities. The exhibition also includes
images from Serrano's dramatic series of dead people
photographed in a morgue. The exhibition continues the
Helsinki City Art Museum's series of Contemporary Art that is
political or addresses sexuality. It is also a continuation of
the series of shows on the work of important 20th century
photographers. A series of lectures and discussions will be
held at the University of Helsinki in conjunction with the
exhibition. The aim is to analyse and explain - through the
perspectives of comparative religion, art history, social
sciences and philosophy - the concepts of thought and
debates on social issues to which works of art contribute.
The political role of art and the relationship between
aesthetics and ethics will also be discussed.
The exhibition catalogue entitled Andres Serrano, Placing
Time and Evil offers an extensive and in-depth presentation
of Serrano's art. It contains articles by Trond Borgen and the
curator Malin Barth. The exhibition, Placing Time & Evil - A
Millennium Retrospective was produced by Stiftelsen 3,14 /
Hordaland Int. Art Gallery.
Helsinki City Art Museum - Salomonkatu 15 - Helsinki, FI