The Fantastical World of Kim Simonsson has arrived from far off Finland to entertain and astound at the American Swedish Institute. The Finnish artist Kim Simonsson has created a Lord of the Flies meets Hans Christian Andersen Fairy-tale meets anime world of feral children who are not so far removed from the wild that they inhabit. The wilderness has its secrets though; among them frolic two-headed rabbits, and an unknown rite of passage that has seemingly prompted the children to move on, packing up their dystopian bits and pieces including a boom box cum bird house all tied together with feathers and rope. The exhibit as a whole is captivating, leaving you to muse on the communal loss of innocence that we experience as we grow up and the subsequent diminishing of those children that we once were.
Growing up in Finland, Simonsson decided in his teens that soccer would not be his calling, instead he put his focus on art. He trained at The University of Art and Design in Helsinki and has won several prestigious awards including Finland’s 2004 Young Artist of the Year prize and the 2012 William Thuring Prize.
Simonsson created the eerie beauty of the Moss People by covering painted black ceramic sculptures with yellow nylon flocking, the result a luminescent green velvet-like covering that is redolent of the primeval forests of Finland near the artist’s home and studio in Fiskars Village.
The relationship in the exhibit between sculpture configuration and place was intensely artist driven. Simonsson spent the week at the Swedish Institute meticulously arranging his sculptures to reside in like environments that he happened upon in both the modern Osher Gallery of the Nelson Cultural Center and in the adjoining historic Turnblad Mansion. In the mansion’s main hall the immense fireplace is guarded by statues of fur clad men who in turn are now flanked by a pair of children similarly draped in fur pelts. While the Moss People are the artist’s most recent works, there are also a number of his earlier ceramic sculptures in the exhibit and they are equally stunning in their imagination and deliberate attention to detail.
There are definite nods to popular culture with one piece re-imagining the horror of The Shining with life size twin girls beckoning you to come and join in their play. The facial features of many of the pieces are evocative of manga and anime and there is a rabbit that is reminiscent of the comic book character The Maxx.
Simonsson has written a companion book Tales of the Moss People that delves deeper into the story of the Moss People and is available at the Swedish Institute. This exhibit continues the Institute’s 2018 Year of The Handmade. After being exhibited around the world, this is Simonsson’s first show in the Midwest and will run from April 21st to July 15th at the American Swedish Institute.
By Rebecca Marx
Photo Credit Jennifer Bentilla/Rebecca Marx
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