Boundaries of visibility and bodily experience – New exhibitions open at Culture House Laikku
Gallery: Jussi Lautu – IN/VISIBILITY
Jussi Lautu’s photographic exhibition IN/VISIBILITY reflects on the politics of visibility and asks on what terms—and for whom—becoming visible is possible. In struggles for minority rights, photography is often used for its evidentiary power, placing emphasis on making individuals and phenomena visible. The series also highlights how visibility can place those depicted in a vulnerable position or leave something essential unseen.
At the heart of the exhibition are 117 self‑portraits by nonbinary individuals*, created in collaboration with the participants. The subjects had full control over their self‑representation: they made and selected the portraits themselves. The exhibition can be considered a joint exhibition of 118 people, as the portraits are taken by those who appear in them. The self‑portraits were created as part of Lautu’s Master’s thesis in photographic art and their doctoral dissertation in gender studies between 2020 and 2024.
Alongside the self‑portraits, the exhibition presents failed views—glitches and distortions captured from Google Street View. These images challenge notions of normativity and clarity. In the works, failure emerges as a source of strength and a means of revealing the constructed nature of prevailing norms.
Jussi Lautu (they/she, b. 1985) is a photographic artist and a doctoral researcher in gender studies who lives and works in Helsinki. Their artistic practice focuses on gender diversity and on dismantling power relations embedded in photographic representation.
The project has been supported by the Kone Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation Uusimaa Fund, Finnfoto ry, the Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Kansan sivistysrahasto, and the Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation.
* In this context, nonbinary individuals are understood as people who do not experience or express their gender identity in accordance with a binary male–female understanding of gender.
Studio: Tuulia Iso‑Tryykäri – You Are Here
Tuulia Iso‑Tryykäri’s painting exhibition You Are Here explores the human body, looking, and questions of existence through everyday materials and figurative painting. Ordinary objects wrap around the body, concealing, revealing, and reshaping the human figure, which presents itself to be seen in compositions drawing from the traditions of portrait painting.
Iso‑Tryykäri’s work is rooted in bringing invisible thoughts and emotions into view through painting. The works address themes such as shame, inner conflict, seeing and being seen, and bodily experience. Through her artistic practice, Iso‑Tryykäri explores different aspects of being human in an effort to understand them—and herself. The relationship between body and material is transferred as a physical experience onto the painted surface, inviting the viewer to pause.
Tuulia Iso‑Tryykäri (b. 1985) lives and works in Lappeenranta. Her primary medium is oil painting on canvas. She graduated as a visual artist from Saimaa University of Applied Sciences and has held numerous solo exhibitions as well as participated in group exhibitions in Finland and abroad. Her works are included in the collections of several Finnish art museums.
Gallery
Jussi Lautu: IN/VISIBILITY
Studio
Tuulia Iso‑Tryykäri: You are here
Dates: 16 May – 27 June 2026
Admission: Free entry
Culture House Laikku
Keskustori 4, Tampere
Opening hours:
- 16–31 May
Tue–Fri 9am–8pm
Sat–Sun 10am–6pm - 1–27 June
Tue–Sat 10am–6pm
(Closed on Midsummer)
