Natural Forms

 

Luonnonmuotoja | Naturformer

8.6–21.8.2022 | Kultaranta GArden

Works inspired by flora, the organic shapes of plants and fruit and the use of natural materials

The office of the President of Finland and the Alfred Kordelin Foundation have agreed to organize three nature-themed sculpture exhibitions in the garden of the President’s summer residence Kultaranta in Naantali. The Natural Forms exhibition of 2022 presents five contemporary sculptors – Aaron Heino, Erkki Kannosto, Kirsi Kaulanen, Essi Korva and Barbara Tieaho. Their works have been inspired by flora, the organic shapes of plants and fruit and the use of natural materials.

The history of botanical art goes back a couple of millennia. The oldest pictures with plant motifs were painted, carved into stone, or built out of pieces of mosaic. Sculpture, however, has played a rather modest part in the history of the genre. Flowers, bushes, and trees are challenging subjects for a sculptor. Painters, graphic artists and photographic artists are able to use their tools for grasping things like the sensitivity of petals or the characteristic features of a landscape more effortlessly than sculptors with their methods. The artists at the Natural Forms exhibition have tackled the challenge skilfully by studying their subjects from different perspectives and through different materials. The elements intertwine with each other, forming memorable expressional and narrative layers.

The exhibition is cuated by Tapani Pennanen.

The Exhibition Video

Opening hours and guided tours

Visitors have free access to Kultaranta Garden in summer from 7 June to 26 August, on Fridays 6–8 pm (no guiding).

Art tour in Kultaranta Garden will be held  on Fridays 1.7.-12.8.2022. The garden is closed on Mondays. Buy your tickets to the guided tours online at www.visitnaantali.com.
For more information, price inquiries and guide reservations, please see Visit Naantali website.

Address: Kultaranta Garden, Kordelininkatu 1, 21100 Naantali.

For the exhibition visitor

There is a QR code on the sign of each work in the exhibition. By pointing the camera at the QR code of your smartphone, you will move to the Kordelin Foundation’s exhibition site.  On the website, you can read exhibition and the artist’s of this summer exhibiton. The QR code reader can be installed for free from the app store. You can also get to know the artists at the bottom of this page.

Artists

Kirsi
Kaulanen

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Barbara
Tieaho

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Erkki
Kannosto

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Essi
Korva

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Aaron
Heino

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Kultaranta

In 1913–16 Afred Kordelin had Villa Kultaranta built in Naantali as his summer residence. The main building, of granite, was designed by Lars Sonck (1870–1956), one of the best-known Finnish architects of his day. Kordelin’s dream was to create something which could become a home museum for future generations. In conjunction with the division of the Kordelin estate, the idea of a home museum was abandoned and Kultaranta was first donated to the Finnish University Society in Turku and later to the Finnish state. Kultaranta became the President’s official summer residence in 1922. All the Presidents of Finland have spent their summers at Kultaranta, with the exception of the war years. Since 2011, The Alfred Kordelin Foundation has been involved in realizing an exhibition of sculpture for the public in the park at Kultaranta.

Photos from above:
Essi Korva, Sound of Forest (2019), det. Photo: Vesa Aaltonen
Erkki Kannosto, xxx (xxx), detail,  Photo: Vesa Aaltonen
Kultaranta park. Photo: Vesa Aaltonen.