Fanny Varjo: Of Tasters, Knights and Gardeners
Poisons and materiality
The health-promoting and destructive uses of poisons have both fascinated and frightened people throughout history, inspiring countless stories and myths. Fanny Varjo’s exhibition, Of Tasters, Knights and Gardeners, which opens 03.10.2025 at WAM Kilta Gallery, draws on beliefs about poisons and poisonous plants from the Middle Ages to the present day.
Fanny Varjo combines ceramics, wood, hair, glass, steel and metal castings in her sculptures and installations. Varjo is fascinated by the meanings embedded in the materials themselves, which add depth and tension to the works. The combinations of materials create a sense of strangeness and alienation, while at the same time prompting us to reflect and look at ourselves and the nature around us.
The guiding idea of the exhibition series at WAM Kilta Gallery is to invite a writer or an author from outside the field of visual arts to work with each artist and write a text based on the theme and works of the exhibition, which will then become a part of the exhibition. The text for the Fanny Varjo exhibition was written by Vivi Varjo (b. 1992), a PhD researcher at the Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Helsinki, who is interested in the popularisation of science.
The exhibition is curated by Jonni Saloluoma, Exhibitions Curator at WAM Turku City Art Museum. The exhibition is supported by the Finnish Heritage Agency.
WAM Kilta Gallery
WAM’s exhibitions are temporarily relocated to Kilta Gallery at Art House Turku.
Visit
Fanny Varjo
Fanny Varjo (b. 1995) lives and works in Helsinki. She graduated as a visual artist from Turku Arts Academy in 2022. Varjo is currently completing her master’s degree at the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of the Arts Helsinki, from which she will graduate in late 2025. Fanny Varjo is a member of the Association of Finnish Sculptors and Turku Artists’ Association.
On the works in the exhibition
The text is written by Vivi Varjo.
Of Tasters, Knights and Gardeners explores historical periods from the Middle Ages to the modern era through three characters: a taster, a knight and a gardener. The actual uses of poisonous plants and the related tales and myths form the thread that runs through the different eras and characters. Throughout history, poisons have been known for both their medicinal and deadly uses, and people have turned to amulets for protection. The artwork entitled Bezoar Stone refers to an amulet once considered an antidote to various poisons. Bezoar stones were prized as amulets, although in reality they were not stones at all but lumps of hair and other indigestible material found in the stomachs of animals. Goblet refers to a drinking horn said to have originated from a unicorn and thus believed to possess the power to neutralise poison. It was the taster’s duty to sample the rulers’ meals in case they contained poison. With its potions and poisonous plants, the kitchen garden provided remedies for various ailments, while also offering the means for assassinations and murders in the dark corners of history. The artworks engage playfully with different historical periods, drawing on myths and stories about poisons. The exhibition challenges conventional ways of recounting history, reminding us that the past is not a fixed chain of events but one shaped by coincidence, layers and chronological diversity. History is not the same as the past and its telling always involves a narrative dimension. -Vivi Varjo
Photo: Raakkel Närhi / WAM Turku City Art Museum.