17 March –14 May 2023
Hippolyte Korjaamo (Töölönkatu 51 A-B, 00250 Helsinki)
Open according to the opening hours of Korjaamo
Johanna Lecklin’s exhibition The Empire Strikes Back contains works of moving image, collages, and photographs. The works are based on found footage, found material from elaborate weddings and portraits of the British royal family as well as photographs of Princess Diana as a fashion icon. Some of the visual material comes from picture discs of View-master devices and some from postcards and picture books that Lecklin has collected. The works deal with questions concerning the popularity of the monarchy at a time when the idea of the inherent privilege of some people seems outdated. Still, many fantasise about royal life.
Is the princess dream about realising one’s own desire for power and the acquisition of undeserved privileges? Lecklin has already approached the subject after the death of Princess Diana during her studies in London in the end of the 1990s. In the exhibition, she continues to work with the subject because class, privilege and power are still relevant in the post-colonial world. Moreover, after the death of Queen Elizabeth and the rise to power of King Charles III, the foundations of the monarchy’s existence have been shaken further. In her works, Lecklin examines traditions tied to the monarchy, which seem inexplicable in a post-Brexit Europe.
The exhibition The Empire Strikes Back has previously been on display at Fotocentrum Raseborg in the spring of 2022.
Johanna Lecklin is a visual artist and researcher from Helsinki. Lecklin’s works have been shown in museums and galleries in Finland and abroad, such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Kunsthalle Helsinki, Galleria Heino, Forum Box, Museum Gustaf in the Serlachius Museums, Haninge Art Hall in Sweden and Kunstihoone in Tallinn. Her latest film had its international premiere at the competition series at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen. Lecklin graduated with a doctorate in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki in 2018. She has master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts as well as in Philosophy, majoring in Art history, from the University of Helsinki. Lecklin received the annual prize of the Artists’ Association of Finland in 2001.
The exhibition has been supported by the Arts Promotion Center Finland (Taike) and Svenska kulturfonden.
