Surrender? Surrender – Johanna Harkonen

Portti, 2020. Tapestry.

Digital print on textile, steel bells, modeling compound, wool

Portti, 2020 at Surrender? Surrender, Exhibition Laboratory, Helsinki Finland

"Moody fools, befuddled fools, wise fools, city fools, fools from castles and villages [...] fools trotting down the path, new and foolish of every age; courageous, cowardly, ugly and beautiful fools; on Mardi Gras the Prince will host you all at Les Halles."

The Prince of Fools, Pierre Gringoire (fifteenth-sixteenth century)

In the set of four new works for Surrender? Surrender, Johanna Härkönen summons apparitions of her foolish alter ego from magical medieval realms and beyond. By enigmatic sleight-of-hand, this jester, a bonafide player/entertainer in her own right, has sprinkled crumble lines of the fantastic and the grotesque for the beguiled who meander her great halls of infinite jest. Catch a glimpse of her animistic spirit in a wicked grin here, or stare straight down the fluffy portal to her humble abode there, but beware the true depth of her dark art (you will be fooled)!