Emma Helle: Early Wild Fruitcake
Galerie Forsblom Stockholm
May 17–August 11, 2019
Opening in the presence of the artist, May 16, 5–7pm
Galerie Forsblom is pleased to present a new series of ceramic works by sculptor Emma Helle in the gallery studio. In Helle’s work, marginalized and peripheral characters excluded from the main narratives in art historical works are elevated and put to the fore. Visually appealing employing a palette bringing life’s small pleasures to mind, the works are more than meets the eye.
The embellished characters are each unique and expressive, and exuding an air of opulence, mischievousness and confidence. Freed from their previous secondary status, they are seemingly reveling in the spotlight. The chosen medium itself which the artist has consistently worked with for years, also bears a certain significance. Previously largely absent, clay has in recent years enjoyed a remarkable upswing by entering the established gallery spaces. In the light of things, Helle’s work can be seen as an allegory of today’s zeitgeist; the pressing matters of representation, diversity and whose stories are being told.
Emma Helle (b. 1979) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Finland, in 2007. Her work has since been presented in solo shows at Turku Art Museum, Turku and Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland, as well as in group shows at Kunsthalle Helsinki, Helsinki and Espoo Museum of Modern Art EMMA, Espoo, Finland. She is represented in private and public collections including KIASMA, Helsinki Art Museum HAM and Espoo Museum of Modern Art EMMA, Espoo, Finland.