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"From the Arctic to the Prairie"
Riiko Sakkinen lists the Names of Prostitutes in Madrid in one of 20 works on paper. The Finnish-born artist displays the most provocative work in this exhibition, subtitled “New Art from Finland & Chicago.”
Sakkinen’s lists (including My Favorite Banks) grab viewers’ attention, but his depictions of consumerist icons hoisting twisted political slogans are even more striking. He makes the Pillsbury Doughboy the poster child for “Fat Supreme: Lard Is Christian,” and personifies ramen as a “Fish Ball Gun”–toting hero in Curry Flavor Cup Noodle Wars. While dissecting the perky-yet-disturbing tactics of pop marketing isn’t new, Sakkinen distinguishes himself by educating viewers about cultural symbols from Korea to Cuba to London.
The only other Finnish influence comes from Sami Sänpäkkilä, who provides semi-dull background sound for Chicago sculptor Mike Andrews’s one-room installation based on Ukrainian fabric swatches. Local realist photographers Peter Cardone and Melanie Schiff make everyday clothing captivating. Cardone’s photograph I’m Glad I Don’t Wear Only Orange Clothes renders a heap of orange laundry as mouthwatering as a scoop of sherbet. In See Through, Schiff makes viewers take a moment to notice a nipple peering out of a tattered Sonic Youth T-shirt.
While it doesn’t find intricate connections between the Finnish and Chicago art worlds, GOLDEN succeeds in its straightforward mission: to show a handful of its favorite emerging artists.
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