6 May – 21 September 2025

Spirit and Passion – Art as Ecstasy (6 May–21 September 2025) is an exploration of religion and spirituality but also passion, desire and pleasure. In the works chosen for this exhibition, earthly joys and sensuality go hand in hand with the spiritual dimension. How have visual artists approached the complex interplay between sensuality, corporeality, mortality and spirituality? And how are their choices reflected in their art?

The artworks in this exhibition offer a re-interpretation of many of the motifs commonly seen in religious art, in icons and in myths, and the traditions that shape them. Alongside the Christian tradition, the works draw inspiration from other cultures and their sacred imagery too. The vanitas and memento mori motifs in floral and other still lifes serve as a reminder that beauty, power and earthly riches are all transient, and all living things are mortal.

The sensual and the ecstatic are directly present in the subject matter but also revealed in the riotous colour palettes and the sheer freedom that characterises the artists’ brushwork and compositional arrangements. The physical responses and sensory memories art has the capacity to evoke – of a scent, of a sound, of a sight, and even of movement, or a touch or feeling of pain – can be a gateway to an experience of the whole self, the body and the mind, coming together, even if for just a moment.

Spirit and Passion – Art as Ecstasy will feature works by the following artists:

Martti Aiha, Emma Ainala, Ina Colliander, Markus Copper, Mauri Favén, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Hannaleena Heiska, Mauno Hartman, Outi Heiskanen, Ester Helenius, Anne Hyvönen, Jani Hänninen, Janne Kaitala, Harry Kivijärvi, Tapani Kokko, Jukka Korkeila, Antti Laitinen, Juhani Linnovaara, Leena Luostarinen, Pekka Luukkola, Ville Löppönen, Elina Merenmies, Pauno Pohjolainen, Leo Putz, Silja Rantanen, Anni Rapinoja, Aurora Reinhard, Anna Retulainen, Janne Räisänen, Stiina Saaristo, Perttu Saksa, Johan Scott, Mari Sunna, Pasi Tammi, Seppo Tamminen, Antti Tanttu, Marjatta Tapiola, Kain Tapper, Heikki Varja and Henry Wuorila-Stenberg

This series, housed in the museum’s red-brick Lohrmann Building, is designed to shift its perspective in response to and in reflection with new exhibitions launching in the museum’s Engel Building. Spirit and Passion – Art as Ecstasy follows Abstracting the Ordinary – Art from the Everyday, which ran from 10 October 2024 until 13 April 2025. The final instalment, titled Strike a Pose – Scenes from Our Collections, will launch on 14 October and run until 15 March 2026. At the core of this series is the Niemistö Collection, on long-term deposit to the museum, which continues to expand and comprises Finnish and Nordic art from the 1950s to the present day.

This collection exhibition is curated by Tanja Pääskynen, curator at Hämeenlinna Art Museum.