AnnaLeena Prykäri, ‘52 Shades Of Shame’, latex sheets, 40 x 36 x 21 cm, 2016

Flat Octopus is one of the associate galleries at Supermarket 2020. Associate galleries are artist-run initiatives around Stockholm that exhibit in their own venues as a part of Supermarket’s programme.

For Supermarket 2020 Flat Octopus intends to present exhibition ‘Harness’ by AnnaLeena Prykäri (FI). In her cross disciplinary practice Prykäri researches the interconnections between topics of mental illness and BDSM. The foundation for her work is built on psychological, mental and emotional states, where human nature and desires play the key roles. Prykäri collects and archives lived experiences and emotions. Consisting layers, questions, states and interconnections, leaving space for fantasy and imaginary experience.

AnnaLeena Prykäri, ‘Fix Me?’, plaster, size and form variable, total amount of objects: 180–190, 2019

The exhibition Harness contains several works: installation ‘Fix Me’, sculpture ‘52 Shades Of Shame’, and a performance lecture ‘From a Caretakers archive; to be handled with aftercare’. The works explore the themes of body control, power roles, desire, happiness and care in various forms. The body is not seen only in its physical sense — translated into artworks as objects and physical installations — but also as a performative tool, and a body as a structural form.

AnnaLeena Prykäri (b. 1985 in Tornio, Finland) is a cross disciplinary artist currently based in Stockholm, Sweden. She has a BFA and MFA degree from Konstfack University. Her work has been exhibited in various venues and at festivals in Sweden, Finland and the USA.

Flat Octopus is an international artist- and curator-run collective in Stockholm, Sweden, started in 2019. Flat Octopus organises exhibitions in different apartments located in Stockholm and Uppsala, as well as external collaborations and projects.

www.flatoctopus.com