This exhibition is the largest collection of the artist’s production to date, including nearly 100 artworks. The exhibition examines the artist’s career in parallel with events in the Finnish art world from the 1960s to this day.

Jan Kenneth Weckman (b. 1946) has been one of the leading artists in the field of Finnish art for five decades. He ponders the nature of imagery and paintings. What is the essence of painting? What makes a person looking at a painting perceive the image within it?

In the beginning of his career, Weckman concentrated on drawings and graphic design. Later, he moved on to large oil paintings through various experiments with techniques. Adding and removing colour from the painting surface are equally important in the work process. Oftentimes, he returns to the themes of his earlier works of art and make new variations of them. This allows for Weckman to get under the surface of a painting, both at a practical level and symbolically.

The exhibition’s name comes from the artist’s abstract series Corpus, which began in the 1990s, and is typified by the use of bright colours and collage technique. The word corpus is Latin for body. In Weckman’s case, corpus refers to the embodiment or material being of the painting that the artist is trying to understand.

The exhibition is the most extensive presentation of Weckman’s work to date. It displays almost a hundred pieces and previously unseen ink drawings from the beginning of the artist's career. The exhibition texts follow Weckman’s career in parallel with events in Finnish society and art circles. A video in which the artist explains his approach to working is also on view.

Guided tours

  • in Finnish every Sunday at 14:00
  • in Swedish on 26 February, 26 March, 23 April and 21 May at 15:00.

Meet the artists

  • 26 February at 12:00 Jan Kenneth Weckman
  • 4 March and 18 March from 13:00 to 16:00 Open art workshops with Jan Kenneth Weckman
  • 2 April at 12:00 Music tour and artist meeting: Ahti Lassila and Jan Kenneth Weckman

Workshops

  • Open art workshops for winter holidays from Tue 21 February to Fri 24 February from 12:00 to 15:00.
  • Open art workshops on Sat 11 March, Sat 15 April, Sun 16 April, Sat 6 May and Sun 7 May from 13:00 to 16:00  

Jan Kenneth Weckman: Corpus 10.2.–21.5.2023

WAM is open between Tue and Sun from 10:00 to 18:00.

Picture (detail): Jan Kenneth Weckman: Serien Corpus, 2007. Photo: TMK / Raakkel Närhi.