Jumping to conclusions

Kent Wisti is a priest and artist who has become an enormously popular satirist. The summer exhibition at Konserthuset is called Jumping to Conclusions, and includes around fifty of his most characteristic images and texts. The exhibition places a finger on tender spots of our contemporary era, with humanity and humour in equal measure. In 2017, the Church of Sweden named Kent Wisti Innovator of the Year.

Kent Wisti’s characters will be on display in a variety of ways at the summer exhibition. Not only will they be displayed as images; visitors can also meet them via Zoom (!) on a digital screen. There will also be a film profiling Kent Wisti and his artistry, and visitors can write their own satirical texts for some of the works in the exhibition.

Kent Wisti’s satirical cartoons provide a honed image of prevalent norms and values, inspiring us to think one step further. Fearless and rebellious, he does not shy away from difficult or sensitive issues. With unmistakable warmth and compassion, he is always on the side of the weak. “Satire as a genre is about power and power structures,” he says. “It’s about extending the steps of the mighty to the point of ridiculousness – causing a loss of balance. Of course, the same manoeuvre can be used on the powerless and the impotent, but then it isn’t satire anymore.”

Thank you to Magasinet Falun, which produced the exhibition Let’s Go, Modernity! (Heja Samtiden!) with Kent Wisti’s images in 2021, from which portions of the exhibition Jumping to Conclusions have been taken.