Yö ry Artists’ Association is an advocacy organization for professional artists from various fields, primarily operating in Helsinki. »Yö in Berlin« is a group exhibition organized by Yö ry, featuring works by its member artists. Yö has over 300 member artists and a gallery in Helsinki on Lönnrotinkatu. The space is free for all exhibiting artists, not just members of the association. At the core of Yö is its members’ desire to act. Yö ry is not merely an artist-run gallery but a coalition of proactive and enthusiastic professionals from various fields. Yö is a movement and community, whose large membership enables even the most ambitious initiatives to be realized.
»Yö in Berlin« is the first exhibition exchange between Yö ry and Galerie Toolbox. It includes video art, visual art, and a portfolio showcase, where you can browse the works of Yö’s member artists on a screen. The video works and portfolios were selected through an open call.
All the videos have been produced during 2020’s. The video works have been curated into 3 different screening programs. »Remnants of the Wild« presents videos exploring our partnerships to non-human world by Earth Forces, Mia Makela and Lau Rämö. »Tapestry of Time« contains video works unraveling the echoes of past in the present time by Johanna Väisänen, Hanna Råst, Joonas Jokiranta and Airbakers (Toivola & Wager). »Close Encounters« presents a collection of videos focused on exploring intimacy through performance art by Juhani Koivumäki, Kainulainen&Latva, Mari Hokkanen, Eoin O’Dowd, To Kosie, Sini Henttu and Ginko Shu.
The paintings and sculptures in the exhibition bring forth the diversity of materials. Isabel Pathirane’s paintings are bound together by the strong use of color and expressiveness. Tuomas Holst blurs the lines between painting and sculpture with works that are made from recycled materials. Krista Blomqvist’s series »Creatures of the Night« consists of paintings on copper, which evolve over time as the copper itself changes. The glass sculptures of Henriikka Pöllänen and Kimmo Reinikka bring out different dimensions of glass as material.
Curatorial team: Toolbox founding members Maija Helasvuo and Niina Räty in collaboration with Yö Association board members Mia Mäkelä and Henriikka Pöllänen.
Artwork: Johanna Väisänen