Friday, July 03, 2009

Elonkorjaajat Exhibition in Tammisaari



Olli Lyytikäinen: Flygande Hamlet ("Flying Hamlet", 1976)


Elonkorjaajat ("Harvesters") was an artist group who started in Helsinki in 1971. Inspired by the underground movement of the day, the members of Elonkorjaajat featured such people as Pekka Airaksinen, J.O. Mallander and Peter Widén who were also part of The Sperm, a controversial music and performance group. Elonkorjaajat -- whose artistic range encompassed conceptual art, earth art, installations, performance and media art -- ran in Helsinki a gallery called Cheap Thrills (the name inspired by a Frank Zappa record of the same name). Finnish Green movement had its origins in the activities of the vegetarian restaurant Kasvis, run by some Elokorjaajat members who, alongside conceptual art and underground music & culture, embraced such interests as Zen Buddhism and macrobiotic diet.

The works of Elonkorjaajat can now been seen at the summer exhibition (29 May - 13 September 2009) taking place in the Elverket gallery of Tammisaari; featuring Airaksinen, Carolus Enckell, Antero Kare, Philip von Knorring, Mallander, Carl-Erik Ström, Ilkka Juhani Takalo-Eskola, Erik Uddström, Widén and Stuart Wrede. Also Olli Lyytikäinen who died in 1987 is featured with one piece.

Exhibition reviews in Finnish:

  • Helsingin Sanomat
  • Turun Sanomat
  • Uusi Suomi

    Elonkorjaajat info in Finnish:

  • Kisko-Seura
  • Mustekala.Info
  • Skenet

    Video clips:

  • Olli Lyytikäinen @ Yle Elävä Arkisto
  • J.O. Mallander @ Yle Elävä Arkisto

    See also:

  • FinnScene: The Early Years @ pHinnWeb
  • 1 comment:

    Anonymous said...

    Cheap Thrills is a classic album by Big Brother and the Holding Company. Zappa had a song with the same name, though.