ilkka halso: nature rescue

ilkka halso: restoration galerie wagner + partner, berlin january 15th to march 6th, 2010

restoration, untitled (5), 2000 100 x 136 cm, edition 6 50 x 68 cm, edition 10

weather has become ‘climate’. climate has turned into ‘climate crisis’ – something which has become an unstoppable threat of our natural environment, and has been part of a global discussion for many years. through his work, finnish artist ilkka halso deals with the healing and rescue of nature which is endangered. considered a form of land art, his body of work is a response to our changing planet.

halso’s upcoming exhibition at galerie wagner + partner, looks at his aesthetic approach of rescuing our natural environment. through his series, ‘restoration’, halso has developed and built pseudo-scientific arrangements, using scaffolding trees with transparent gauze – kind of a ‘mending process’ – and then illuminates them. here, nature is given ‘treatment’, receiving medical care to restore its health. all of the photographs are captured by night, when nature is, ‘getting a good night’s rest’.

restoration, untitled (2), 2000 100 x 136 cm, edition 6 50 x 68 cm, edition 10

restoration, untitled (6), 2000 100 x 136 cm, edition 6 50 x 68 cm, edition 10

restoration, untitled (3), 2000 100 x 136 cm, edition 6 50 x 68 cm, edition 10

restoration, untitled (1), 2000 100 x 136 cm, edition 6 68 x 52 cm, edition 10

restoration, untitled (7), 2000 100 x 136 cm, edition 6 50 x 68 cm, edition 10

restoration, untitled (8), 2000 150 x 305 cm, edition 6, triptych 75 x 152 cm, edition 10, triptych

museum of nature, roller-coaster, 2004 100 x 134 cm, edition 6 50 x 67 cm, edition 10

his other body of work ‘museum of nature’ shows a shift in this healing process. nature is no longer being healed. instead it is being rescued. trees and whole landscapes are in glass pavilions. like a work of at, nature is stored and conserved in a museum.

museum of nature, theatre I, 2003 100 x 154 cm, edition 6 50 x 77 cm, edition 10

museum of nature, kitka-river, 2004 (triptych) 183 x 300 cm, edition 6 91 x 150 cm, edition 10

museum of nature, museum I, 2003 100 x 135 cm, edition 6 50 x 68 cm, edition 10

ilkka halso was born in orimattila, finland in 1965. he received his master of arts from the university of art and design in helsinki in 1992. halso’s solo exhibitions include shows at the galerie frank, paris, synart art gallery, frankfurt and the F48 fotografisk galleri, stockholm. he currently lives and works in orimattila, finland.