FENCED — 5.1.-18.1.2026 

Galleria Toinen Silmä

Sturenkatu 43-45, Helsinki

Tue-Sat 12-18 and Sun 12-16

FENCED examines the fence as both a physical structure and a metaphorical boundary. As an element of hostile architecture, the fence offers a rich site for reflection on mechanisms of control, exclusion, and spatial regulation. Through analogue black-and-white photography, cyanotypes, and ceramic reliefs, the exhibition explores how fences divide, regulate movement, and mark ownership, while simultaneously revealing their fragility and temporality.

The project originates from repeated encounters with a large, mostly empty fenced private parking lot in Vallila. Both the underused space and its deteriorating wire fence became points of sustained observation and reflection. The fence bears visible traces of time: holes, broken wires, provisional repair attempts, and even remnants of trees that once grew through it. These material details foreground contradictions between control and neglect, exclusion and permeability.

By translating the fence into different media, the exhibition reflects on how such ordinary and often overlooked structures actively shape our environments, behaviors, and social relations—while also exposing the limits and failures of the boundaries they seek to impose.