“Miettinen Collection: Body Politics”

Opening ceremony: Friday 23rd January from 6 to 8p

The exhibition presents a wide selection of works by Finnish and internationally renowned artists and provides an overview of the art collection, where the human body plays a central role. The exhibition features approximately 130 works that invite us to deepen our understanding of humanity.

The name Body Politics refers to the social norms and politics that regulate the human body, as well as the struggle between the individual and society for control over it. The exhibition is named after the Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo’s (b. 1984) work Body Politics 3 (2016). Boafo, a leading contemporary artist, addresses the role of ethnicity, identity and masculinity in his powerful paintings – themes which are central to the exhibition.

On view in the exhibition are also works by Finnish and international artists such as Alexander Basil, Karim Boumjimar, Louise Bourgeois, Elina Brotherus, Zohar Fraiman, Leiko Ikemura, Janne Räisänen, Julian Röder, Emma Sarpaniemi, Tom of Finland and Grace Weaver.

The exhibition concludes an international tour of museum exhibitions that has presented the collection in both Germany and Finland.

Curated by Noora Lehtovuori, Maaria Salo and Janna Sirén.

Timo Miettinen has made his career within the family business. Today, he is more dedicated to the art collection and is the family’s second-generation art collector, who was exposed to art from an early age. He lives in Berlin, where Miettinen Collection is also located–a meeting place that focuses on the internationalization of Finnish art. The Miettinen Collection contains approximately 1,500 works and since 2004 the collection has been expanded with contemporary art.

Photo Noora Lehtovuori courtesy Galerie Judin

The human figure and the nude body are among the oldest and most classical subjects in art, and the exhibition at presents them in all their complexity. The show explores the body as both an individual, emotional experience and as part of broader social and political structures. Body Politics challenges norms, celebrates desire and sensuality, and reflects on identity, freedom and the rules society places on the human body.

Open Wednesday–Saturday 10a–5p. Closed Sunday till Tuesday.