LAURA LILJA Grow Up and Get a Life
Young Visual Artist in Satakunta 2009
Lönnströmin taidemuseo
10.10.2009-10.01.2010

The Young Artist of the Year 2009 in Satakunta is Laura Lilja (b. 1975 in Hanko, lives and works in Pori). In her work, she investigates power and the potential for rebellion. The exhibition presents Lilja's conceptual sculptures and installations from 2003–2009, made using a range of different media from cast iron to bank statements, from leather works to video documentation.

The issues addressed in the works include gender and sexuality, alternatives to military service and challenges to governmental institutions of power. Lilja's most recent works also touch upon the history of the Lönnström Art Museum building, which has previously served as a police station and the town hall. Inspired by personal experiences, the works present a new perspective on the social power structures that overshadow individuals who are expected to grow up into 'normal' adults.

The illustrated exhibition catalogue includes a dialogue interview between the artist and Harri Kalha, scholar in visual culture, and a foreword by art critic Otso Kantokorpi.

"Another reason is that I believe I have finally encountered in Lilja's work that dialectic change – development through thesis, antithesis and synthesis we were told about in the 1970s – which our political art has stood in need for quite some time. I think that, together with Lilja, I believe and hope that that development will at least in some part be positive – for us both and then to everyone." – Otso Kantokorpi