Curated / Co-curated exhibitions include:

Magdalena Abakanowicz: Rajojen ylittäjä, 06.05.2026-30.08.2026, kuva: HAM/Maija Toivanen

Magdalena Abakanowicz: Crossing Boundaries

06.05.2026 - 30.08.2026 HAM Helsinki Art Museum

Co-curator with Eulalia Domanowska

Project manager

Crossing Boundaries marks the first solo exhibition of the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930–2017) in Finland. HAM’s grand arched halls are filled with the artist’s iconic textile sculptures, Abakans, as well as impressive burlap sculptures.

The impressive exhibition is divided into HAM’s two grand arched halls. The first one features the artist’s fibre works from the late 1950s to the late 1970s: early woven pieces, rope works and Abakans, which have been installed as spatial environments according to the artist’s original instructions, forming a spatial unity, a kind of textile forest.

The second part of the exhibition focuses on burlap sculptures, which the artist began making in the early 1970s. The sculptures consist of a series of similar forms, depicting groups of people and various forms from nature. They continue Abakanowicz’s lifelong interest in humanity, nature and all organic matter.

The curator of the exhibition is Eulalia Domanowska, Director of the State Gallery of Art in Sopot.

The exhibition is organised in cooperation with the Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz Kosmowska and Jan Kosmowski Foundation. The exhibition is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

Photo: HAM/Maija Toivanen

Vapaa 90, 25.04.2025-04.01.2026, HAM Helsingin taidemuseo, kuva: ©HAM/Sonja Hyytiäinen

Free 90

25.04.2025 - 04.01.2026

HAM Helsinki Art Museum

Curator with Timo Valjakka

Project manager

Free Art School’s 90th anniversary exhibition at HAM is a celebration of painting. The exhibition presents the school’s 90-year history and its significance in the development of Finnish painting and modernism. From the school’s early days to the present, the exhibition highlights the connections between the artists and the special spirit that has run through the Free Art School throughout its nine decades.

The Free Art School was founded in 1935 on the initiative of art world influencer and patron Maire Gullichsen to offer an alternative to academic art education. Modelled after the “free academies” of Paris, the Free Art School was a champion of modern painting in Finland from its very beginning. The school has evolved from concretism and pure abstract colour painting towards the diversity of contemporary painting.

The history of the Free Art School and the artists who studied and taught there are approached through Leonard and Katarina Bäcksbacka’s donated collection, which is the heart of HAM and the City of Helsinki’s art collection. In 1915, the Bäcksbackas established the art gallery Taidesalonki, which showcased the works of several artists involved in the Free Art School – artists whose works the couple also acquired for their collection.

The exhibition is curated by Timo Valjakka and Satu Metsola.

The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Free Art School.

Photo: ©HAM/Sonja Hyytiäinen

Lallukka Visual Artists' Anniversary Exhibition Series 5 April – 12 June 2025 curator Satu Metsola

100th Anniversary Exhibition of the Lallukka Artists' Home Foundation

Exhibition Series “Ateljee”
5 April – 12 June 2025

Curator

Lallukan Ateljee E1
Eteläinen Hesperiankatu 14, 00100 Helsinki

For its residents, the artists' residence is a multifaceted space where home and work, privacy and community, memory and creativity converge. Artists are not solitary creators; they are part of a broader dialogue that emerges through the space itself, the works of fellow artists, and the experiences of visitors. With each of the five exhibitions, the studio space is transformed into an entirely new whole.

The exhibition series celebrates diversity and is in a constant state of change. It is as vibrant and polyphonic as the artists' residence that surrounds it.

The exhibitions have been curated by Satu Metsola.

Lallukka Visual Artists' Anniversary Exhibition Series 5 April – 12 June 2025 Curator Satu Metsola

1. exhibition 5.4.–16.4.2025
Stig Baumgartner, Kari Cavén, Jari Jula, Inka Nieminen, Eero Markuksela

2. exhibition 19.4.–30.4.2025
Markku Arantila, Hanne Juga, Lauri Laine, Heimo Suntio, Vaula Valpola, Senja Vellonen

3. exhibition 3.5.–14.5.2025
Tero Laaksonen, Kuutti Lavonen, Tuomas Mäntynen, Antti Ojala, Anne Sunila, Tommi Toija

4. exhibition 17.5.–28.5.2025
Marjatta Hanhijoki, Pertti Kukkonen, Ipi Kärki, Anitta Ruotsalainen, Päivi Sirén

5. exhibition 31.5.–12.6.2025
Aarne Jämsä, Arja Jämsä, Elina Merenmies, Marjukka Paunila, Jaakko Rustanius

Photos: Jussi Tiainen

https://taiteilijakoti.fi/ateljee-nayttelysarja/

Nastja Säde Rönkkö: Selviytymisopas maailmanlopun lapselle, Survival Guide for a Post-Apocalyptic Child, 17.05.2024 - 08.09.2024, Photos/kuvat: ©HAM/Maija Toivanen curator Satu Metsola

Nastja Säde Rönkkö: Survival Guide for a Post-Apocalyptic Child

17.05.2024 - 08.09.2024

HAM Helsinki Art Museum

Curator with Kati Kivinen

Project manager

Nastja Säde Rönkkö’s thought-provoking installation invites viewers to reflect on the uncertain future facing humankind and all living beings. At the core of the work, 26 videos examine strategies for crisis survival.

Filling one of HAM’s upstairs grand arched galleries, the videos are narratives about loss, longing and the last moments of civilization as we know it. Proposing strategies for coping with both the physical and emotional challenges of our planet’s impending breakdown, the content of the videos varies from practical nutrition tips for roamers lost in the forest to speculative imagining of worlds on other planets. The material gains personal relevance situated both against today’s global crises and individual emotional experiences.

The installation was originally produced by Lönnström Art Museum as part of the Lönnström Projects series in autumn 2022. Curated by Satu Metsola and Head of Exhibitions Kati Kivinen, the HAM version is rounded out with a new series of sculptures, paintings, and a soundscape by Timo Kaukolampi. The accompanying English-language publication Survival Guide for a Post-Apocalyptic Child is published in collaboration with the artist and Lönnström Art Museum.

Photo: ©HAM/Maija Toivanen

Jotain ihmeellistä liikkuu…HAM mix, HAM Helsingin taidemuseo, Tennispalatsi 2krs, 17.6.2022-5.2.2023 © HAM/Kirsi Halkola

Something Strange is Afoot…

17.06.2022 - 05.02.2023

HAM Helsinki Art Museum 2022 with Petronella Grönroos & Arttu Merimaa

Something Strange is Afoot… is a group exhibition themed around sensory experience, time, movement and interactions. The exhibition features kinetic sculptures, paintings, photographs and video works from HAM’s collections and beyond.

The artists featured in the exhibition are: Leah Beeferman, Maija Luutonen, Anu Pennanen, Carl-Erik Ström, Keiji Uematsu and Osmo Valtonen.

The exhibition was curated by HAM curators Petronella Grönroos, Arttu Merimaa and Satu Metsola.

Photo: © HAM/Kirsi Halkola

Helsinki art museum Man Yau exhibition 2024 curator Satu Metsola

HAM Gallery exhibitions with the artists:

  • Liisa-Irmelen Liwata: Romantic thought, 2025

  • Jere Vainio: Gasping for Tolerable Distances, 2024

  • Man Yau: Passage, 2024.

Photo: Man Yau: Passage. Photography by Patrik Rastenberger.

Art gallery wall displaying three vibrant colorful paintings, including a lion with a mane, a face with exaggerated features, and an abstract face, with Finnish text explaining the exhibition.

Erkki Pirtola - Works on Paper

08.09.2023 - 04.02.2024

HAM Helsinki Art Museum 2023

Co-curator of Veikko Halmetoja

Project manager

The exhibition to start the autumn season at HAM is an overview of the artistic works of artist, critic and self-made life art expert Erkki Pirtola (1950–2016). The exhibition focuses on Pirtola’s drawings and other paper-based works and is curated by Veikko Halmetoja. Photo: © HAM/Kirsi Halkola

An outdoor art installation by the water featuring large rocks on a metal platform, with a metal frame mirror reflecting rocks and a cloudy sky, overlooking a rocky shoreline and a distant small island.

Helsinki Biennial 2021

12.6. – 26.9. 2021

Vallisaari island, Helsinki

Coordinating curator

Part of the curatorial team

Helsinki Biennial 2021 presented 41 international artists or groups of artists from both Finland and around the world. The artists were invited to come to Vallisaari and create new site-specific and temporary artworks or to exhibit existing artworks that will engage in a dialogue with the island.

Helsinki Biennial 2021 was curated by HAM’s head curators Pirkko Siitari and Taru Tappola.

Mutual dependence was the main theme of Helsinki Biennial 2021. Each thing and action has an impact on something else and supports the entirety. The title for the inaugural Helsinki Biennial was The Same Sea.

https://helsinkibiennaali.fi/en/hb21/

https://www.wallpaper.com/art/helsinki-biennial-2021-the-same-sea

https://www.timeout.com/news/helsinki-biennial-2021-080421

Pawel Athamer exhibition at HAM Helsinki Art Museum curator Satu Metsola photo ©HAM/Maija Toivanen

Paweł Althamer: I (am)

29.03.2019 - 08.09.2019

HAM Helsinki Art Museum

Curator with Pirkko Siitari & Sanna Tuulikangas

Project manager with Sanna Tuulikangas

Internationally acclaimed Polish artist Paweł Althamer’s (b. 1967) extensive solo show in HAM showcases his diverse and surprising work from three decades. Althamer will also create a new collaborative artwork for the show that invites visitors to explore, be inspired and seek freedom of mind, body and soul. Paweł Althamer: I (am) is the artist’s first solo exhibition in the Nordic countries.

The exhibition I (am) introduces museumgoers to Althamer’s extensive array of self-portraits, sculptures, installations, performance documentations as well as miniature worlds. The show includes a slide, originally created in collaboration with children, which child visitors can use.

Althamer will also create a new work for HAM in which he developes his method of creative play with open outcome further. One of the two large second-floor galleries will be converted into a white space where Althamer invites the audience to enter silently, dressed in white, and without their mobile phones. Althamer has likened his new work to the sauna and its purifying effect on mind and body. The white space is designed to purify the senses and the mind of the ever-present flood of external stimuli.

Photo 1: ©HAM/Maija Toivanen

Photo 2: ©Hanna Kukorelli/HAM

Pawel Althamer New Work at HAM Helsinki Art Museum 2019 cirator Satu Metsola photo ©Hanna Kukorelli/HAM
A woman with curly blonde hair wearing a beige knit hat and a gray cardigan sitting at a cluttered desk. In the background, two screens display images of ballet dancers; one shows a group of dancers in white costumes on stage, and the other shows a woman in a dark outfit. The surroundings include various objects and equipment related to artistic work.

Julian Rosefeldt: Manifesto

19.8. - 15.10.2017

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Project manager

What is the role of the artist today? Julian Rosefeldt’s sensational 13-channel film installation Manifesto (2015) is an homage to the tradition of artist manifestos.

Rosefeldt constructed a collage of historical texts and combined the contents with contemporary contexts. The result was a ‘manifesto of manifestos’: 13 poetic monologues, which relay the voice of the artists, ranging from Dadaists to Situationists, from Kasimir Malevich to Jim Jarmusch. The texts, written with the passion of the youth, tell of a desire to change the world through art.

The Australian movie star Cate Blanchett performs an incredible acting feat by playing 13 different personas – including a teacher, a news anchor and a homeless man – and by breathing new life into both world-famous and less-familiar texts.

Manifesto is part of the Helsinki Festival program.

Kunsthalle Helsinki exhibition artist self portraits curator Satu Metsola

Me: Self-Portraits Through Time

27.5. - 6.8.2017

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Curator

How do you see yourself? How would you like others to see you? The self-portraits of artists offer glimpses into the innermost side of their makers. The works show artists who are noble and proud, but also plenty of humour and self-irony.

Kunsthalle Helsinki’s summertime exhibition shows more than 160 self-portraits from the end of the 19th century until present day. Among these, there are realistic replicas, eyes peeking from the corner of a mirror, and grotesque role play.

Like the selfies of our time, artist self-portraits have always served the purpose of self-optimisation: many self-portraits look back at us as an embodiment of the mythical artist, as a rare breed above the everyday. Others show an artist with less idealism, with even a gritty intimacy.

The exhibition includes paintings, photography, video, and sculpture works from more than a hundred Finnish artists.

Black and white photo of a man wearing sunglasses, a cap with the logo 'Tams', a leather jacket, tight pants, and knee-high boots holding a riding crop, standing with his legs apart and hands on his hips. The background has large orange text reading 'TOM' and other event details.

Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play

7.5. - 7.8.2016

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Curator of the “The Early Years” with Pirkko Siitari.

Project manager of the exhibition

In the world of Tom of Finland, everyone is allowed to be themselves – joy and pleasure belong to everyone. Kunsthalle Helsinki’s major exhibition portrays the artist’s work on wider scale than ever seen before.

The Pleasure of Play is the most comprehensive Tom of Finland exhibition to date, spanning six decades to include more than 180 drawings, 1930s childhood paper dolls, the full set of 1940s gouaches along with triptychs, individual drawings, storyboards and over 300 reference pages.

The exhibition was initially seen and conceived for and by Artists Space, New York in Summer 2015 and has been complemented with works and documentation portraying aspects of the personal history of the artist, such as early landscapes and photos lent from family albums.

The exhibition is produced in cooperation with Artists Space, New York.

An art exhibit featuring numerous handcrafted ceramic flowers on black metal stands arranged in rows and displayed in a gallery with plain white walls.

Anu Pentik: Three Rooms

11.3. - 14.5.2017

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Project manager

The rugged beauty of Nordic nature sets itself in the Kunsthalle in the form of ceramics installations. The exhibition starts a new chapter in the lengthy career of Anu Pentik.

The Three Rooms exhibition highlights Anu Pentik (b. 1942) as an artist and celebrates her long career in the centre of Finnish ceramics. She is the founder of Pentik Ltd. and the artistic director of the company.

The exhibition is a part of the Finland 100 celebratory year.

Niki de Saint Phalle exhibition at Kunsthalle Helsinki, picuring dancing Nanas, curator Satu Metsola

Niki de Saint Phalle

20.8. - 20.11.2016

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Curator with Camille Morineau

Project manager

‍Dancing women, extravagant sculpture parks and wild shooting – Niki de Saint Phalle’s (1930–2002) world is vibrant and humorous, with dark tones. Her radical way of making art and the social message of her work speak directly to our time as well. Kunsthalle’s exhibition presents a large selection of the artist’s iconic work: sculptures full of joie de vivre and curious collages.

The exhibition is a part of Helsinki Festival

https://nikidesaintphalle.org/tag/niki-de-saint-phalle-in-helsinki/

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Art installation featuring a small sailboat model made of wood and fabric, mounted on a large disk of tree bark, displayed in a bright gallery space with a television showing a sailboat on water and a Tuff Shed in the background.

Zabludowicz Collection

19.3. - 24.4.2016

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Nature meets contemporary art in Sarvisalo, Pernaja. The Zabludowicz estate hosts an artistic residency for young, international artists, whose work can be seen in different ways on the island. Art has spread to Sarvisalo, but the idyllic seaside venue is only open to public on special occasions so this exhibition offers an exciting opportunity to see works from Sarvisalo in the city.

This exhibition drawn from the Zabludowicz Collection presents contemporary art from nine artists who have visited or been exhibited in Sarvisalo.

A circular clock with black dragonfly silhouettes as hour markers, orange marking two minutes past twelve, no hands visible.

Osmo Rauhala – The Book of Life

28.09.2012 – 13.01.2013

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Is everything just chance, or is life governed by some structure or memory which is capable of learning and of guiding us? Memory is a key component of our survival, but how can it be recharged? Can our inability to formulate a universal theory of life be due to the constraints of language?
Osmo Rauhala uses art to explore our ability to understand the reality we live in. In his paintings, Rauhala complements animal and plant symbolism with a pure world of abstract signs, pointing to the way we conceptualise and organise the things we see.

Empty concert hall with scattered chairs and music stands, stage lights illuminating the space.

Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller – The Murder of Crows

17.02.2012 – 20.05.2012

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Curator with Pirkko Siitari

Project manager

The Murder of Crows by the Canadian artist couple offers pictures for the ears. Installed on the fifth floor in Kiasma, the work is a powerful sound experience produced with the aid of nearly a hundred loudspeakers.

https://www.artforum.com/events/kiasma-museum-of-contemporary-art-192471/

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Thank You for the music exhibition in Kiasma Finland curator Satu Metsola

Thank You for the Music

20.1.–17.6.2012

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Curator with Kati Kivinen & Arja Miller

Music speaks directly to our emotions. Hearing a song can take us back in time. We copy the dress of our idols, our mood changes with music. Thank You for the Music – How Music Moves Us is an exhibition on how the experiences of listening to music, watching music videos or going to a concert can appear in the life and work of an artist, a music lover, a fan.
Music is present in the featured artworks as a source of inspiration. It can take the form of a soundtrack which supports or challenges the visual aspects of the piece. The central theme in the exhibition is the intense emotional response produced in us by music. Many artists have used the aesthetics of music videos as the starting point for their work, approaching the topic using a variety of media, including video, painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and installation.
The title of the exhibition is taken from a song by the Swedish band ABBA. Indeed, we have music to thank for the pieces in this exhibition.

Two views of a human skull covered in diamonds, shown from the front and in profile against a black background.

Cream - Damien Hirst & his Contemporaries

10.9.–28.11.2010

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Curator with Arja Miller

CREAM, Kiasma's main exhibition in 2010 presented the works of Damien Hirst and his contemporaries mainly from private Finnish collections. With Damien Hirst as their most prominent member, the Young British Artists (YBA) group heated up the world's art market in the 1990s and made contemporary art a hot topic shared by the media and general public.

The exhibition shows works by 16 artists, most of whom started their career in London at the beginning of the 1990s. YBA was one of the most famous art phenomena of the era. In the 1990s, young British artists were like rock stars, and their artistic endeavours and personal relationships were followed by the art world and attracted wide media coverage.

The exhibition included installations, paintings, sculptures and videos, mainly from Finnish, but also from British collections. Works by Tracey Emin and Helen Chadwick were included from the Kiasma collection.

The Cream exhibition shows works by Angela Bulloch, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Ian Davenport, Mark Francis, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Callum Innes, Chantal Joffe, Michael Landy, Sarah Lucas, Jason Martin, Julian Opie, Marc Quinn, Sam Taylor-Wood and Helen Chadwick.

The exhibition curators are Arja Miller and Satu Metsola.

A sculpture of a rearing horse, painted black, adorned with a purple and white ruffled skirt and a woman in a blue jacket adjusting a harness on the horse's head.

ARS 11

15.4.–27.11.2011

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Part of the curatorial team

Featuring 30 artists and 300 pieces of art, the exhibition touches on themes such as migration, environmental problems and western style urban life. Many of the contributing artists are from Africa, though the exhibition also features artists of African descent and Western artists whose work addresses African issues.

In addition to the artworks, ARS 11 includes performances, screenings and discussions held in Kiasma.

ARS 11 was the eighth ARS exhibition and was celebrating its 50th anniversary. To mark the occasion, ARS 11 spread out to eight cities outside of Helsinki, extending as far as the Hallwylska museum in Stockholm.

https://www.frieze.com/article/ars-11

A person lying face down on a bed with red long hair covering her face

Denise Grünstein

30.4.–15.8.2010

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

The first extensive Finnish exhibition by Denise Grünstein, one of the best known Swedish photographic artists, showcases approximately 40 large works of photographic art and one video installation.

Abstract pixel art with green, pink, and dark blue shapes on a white background.

Olav Christopher Jenssen

22.1.–28.3.2010

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Curator with Arja Miller

The exhibition on the fifth floor in Kiasma presents Jenssen's latest work, colouristically exuberant paintings and organic sculptures. The titles of Jenssen's works evolve slowly during the painting process.
The paintings of the Norwegian artist Olav Christopher Jenssen (b. 1954) are spontaneous, yet they are also highly controlled. Jenssen says he needs both approaches, which is why he keeps several canvases primed and ready in his Berlin studio. Because large works require discipline and sustained effort, Jenssen needs these smaller standby canvases as a counterbalance so as to maintain impulsiveness and a continuous movement and circulation in his studio.

Indoor digital art installation projecting a large image of pink tulips and a woman with red hair in a white tank top among the flowers.

Pipilotti Rist - Elixir

5.9. - 6.12.2009

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Pipilotti Rist creates intense visual worlds where sensual visual narrative merges with meditative soundscapes. The works are a Paradise that the artist invites her viewers to enter.

Elixir comprises six audio/video installations. They transform Kiasma's fifth floor into an immersive space where visitors can lie back on pillows and let themselves be carried away on the flow of images and music. The artist hopes that Elixir will be true to its title and serve as medicine for the mind - to care, nourish and energise.

The exhibition is organised in cooperation with the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum in the Netherlands.

A large, modern sculpture resembling a star with multiple elongated black metal arms radiating from a central sphere, situated in a minimalist gallery space with curved white walls and a polished concrete floor.

HORROR VACUI

15.5.–9.8.2009

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Curator with Arja Miller

In their joint exhibition, Horror vacui, three prominent Finnish artists, Markus Copper, Jari Haanperä and Kimmo Schroderus, focus on spatial issues. They all have an aversion of empty space, and fill it with powerful ideas, sculptural volumes, motorised objects, moving images, lights and sounds.


Works in the Horror vacui exhibition redefine the concepts of space and scale. The empty space is filled totally, verging on claustrophobia, and the works appropriate it aggressively yet with insight. The artists featured in the exhibition are very different: two are sculptors, one is a media artist. The exhibition has two opposite poles: heavy, physical, stationary masses and moving lights and sounds. Traditional craftmanship and technology blend in unprecedented ways, pushing the borders of both sculpture and media art.


Presented in Kiasma's fifth-floor gallery, the exhibition also flows onto the fourth and second floors, as well as outside the building where Bogey, a giant sculpture by Kimmo Schroderus, will be set up in front of the entrance. The exhibition is curated by chief curator Arja Miller and curator Satu Metsola.
One of the works in the Horror vacui exhibition is Markus Copper's Estonia, which was donated to Kiasma collections by Friends of Kiasma association.

Two children playing on a bench that is tilted and designed for swinging, against a gray concrete wall. The girl on the left is lying on the bench, leaning back, while the girl on the right is balancing on top of the bench, reaching down.

Fluid Street – alone, together

9.5.–21.9.2008

Museum of Contemporay Art Kiasma

Part of the curatorial team

In the tenth anniversary exhibition, a street functions as a metaphorical space, a common everyday space or a flow of time.

Exhibition coordination / project managing include:

Large digital screen displaying a graphic of dollar bills and a smartphone, with locks on both sides, in a dark modern room with chairs reflected in a rounded table.

Helsinki Biennial 2023: New Directions May Emerge

11.06.2023 - 22.10.2023

Project manager of the HAM Helsinki Art Museum venue

Helsinki Biennial presents around 30 artists or collectives from Finland and around the world. This year, the biennial’s main venues are Vallisaari Island and HAM Helsinki Art Museum. You can also experience artworks in various locations in the city centre.

Works by Diana Policarpo, Bita Razavi, Tabita Rezaire, Tuula Närhinen and INTERPRT will take over the large arched halls and a gallery space at HAM Helsinki Art Museum.

Curated by Joasia Krysa

A large, abstract black and white world map mural on a white wall in an industrial-style space with large windows. A person wearing a blue jacket, red hat, and jeans is standing in front of the mural, looking at it.

EGS: Writing My Diary

13.1. - 25.2.2018

Kunsthalle Helsinki

EGS (b. 1974) is one of the best-known Finnish graffiti artists worldwide. His work can be seen across cityscapes in dozens of different countries. In recent years he has widened his artistic scope to embrace more traditional art forms. The exhibits range from wall paintings to glass sculptures, and from works in ink to wooden installations.

EGS includes his three initials in all his work, re-shaping them into new forms and arrangements to the point of unrecognisability. By repeating these letters he not only enacts the fundamental calligraphic nature of graffiti, but also constructs his own lifelong travel journal: to the artist himself each individual work is a part of a complete whole that has spread to five continents and more than 50 countries over 30 years.

The exhibition is produced by the Finnish Art Society.

An art gallery with paintings of landscapes hung on white and burgundy walls. There is a black bench in the center of the room, and a skylight overhead allowing natural light to illuminate the artwork.

The Life of Art

25.11. - 31.12.2017

Kunsthalle Helsinki

A peek into the Sampo art collection exhibits rarely seen gems of Finnish art from the Golden Age to modernism.

The Life of Art celebratory exhibition compiled from the collection of the Sampo Group is a fresh look at well-known artists: the exhibition includes rarely seen works by artists ranging from Akseli Gallen-Kallela to Helene Schjerfbeck, and from Juhana Blomstedt to Leena Luostarinen.

The comprehensive collection includes around 1000 works, from which the exhibition curator, art historian Tuula Karjalainen selected an array of around 100 works as a look into Finnish art from the 1820s till the 1990s.

The Sampo art collection is exhibited publicly courtesy of Sampo’s affiliate Mandatum Life and the Kaleva Mutual Insurance Company.

Two women are standing in front of a colorful abstract mural. One woman with glasses and a scarf around her neck is on the left, and the other woman with her hair tied back is on the right. They are looking at each other near a table with art supplies.

A Shared Atelier – Karin and Åke Hellman

21.10. - 19.11.2017

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Karin and Åke Hellman’s joint path lasted over six decades. They shared a life together, as well as a profession in the arts, an atelier, and the courage to dive into the unknown.

The exhibition A Shared Atelier brings the work of the Karin (1915–2004) and Åke Hellmans (b. 1915) work to where it all started from: both had their artistic debut at the Kunsthalle close to 80 years ago, in 1939.

The exhibition includes works from the 1930s until the 2000s. The exhibition is curated by Ph.D. Juha-Heikki Tihinen, Pro Artibus Foundation.

Multiple hanging art installations resembling large test tubes with metallic tops, arranged in a row inside an art gallery with wooden floors and a high window with blue tinted glass.

Grönlund-Nisunen: Grey Area

28.1. - 5.3.2017

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Tommi Grönlund’s and Petteri Nisunen’s exhibition showcases the artist duo’s production from the past two decades. Balancing between art and science, the two artists play with physical phenomena such as gravity, magnetism and light. Sound offers another important dimension to their work.

The retrospective exhibition features key pieces from Grönlund-Nisunen, as well as brand new work. The exhibition also includes many works previously unseen in Finland, such as an installation made for the 2001 Venice Biennale.

The exhibition is produced by the Finnish Art Society.

A promotional poster with a light cream background, displaying the text 'Paola Suhonen' and 'Love on the Road' with dates and location details for an event or exhibition. The poster features a photo of a person holding a bouquet of flowers in front of their face, taken outdoors with a dark, leafy background.

Paola Suhonen: Love on the Road

3.12.2016 - 8.1.2017

Kunsthalle Helsinki

What possibilities does an individual have to build a life that fits, one free of norms? How does love – our longing for it, seeking, finding it or giving it up – define us as humans?

Paola Suhonen shot her experimental documentary Poem Portrait of Nina during eight years, portraying Hollywood’s best known pornstar, Nina Hartley (b. 1959). Comprising of poetic snapshots and interviews in a multi-channel video piece, Hartley is seen for the first time through an artistic lens.

Interior view of an art gallery with a staircase and orange walls. An eye chart is displayed on the wall at the top of the staircase, and a pink floor lamp is on the right side.

Jussi Heikkilä: Observationes

23.1. - 13.3.2016

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Jussi Heikkilä does not cease to surprise. The retrospective exhibition portrays works by the pioneering Finnish conceptual artist from the four past decades. Included are also some brand new works.

The exhibition curated by Juha-Heikki Tihinen is produced by the Finnish Art Society.

An art gallery with white walls displaying colorful paintings. A large, modern sculpture made of rocks sits in the center on a rectangular black frame. A glass ceiling with a blue and orange metal structure is above, and a doorway is visible to the right.

Young Artists 2015

28.11.2015 - 3.1.2016

Kunsthalle Helsinki

Produced by the Artists’ Association of Finland, the Young Artists 2015 exhibition is an institution of Finnish visual arts. Organised every two years to showcase fresh and interesting visual arts, the exhibition has followed the same guidelines since 1939: new works not more than three years old by Finnish or international visual artists residing in Finland under 35 years of age.

An art installation with a large glass window overlooking a city street, featuring a scattered arrangement of white, irregularly shaped slabs on the floor.

FULL HOUSE

17.10.2008–18.1.2009

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

The exhibition examines minimalism and the modern art trends it inspired. From the late 1960s to today, the exhibition follows the paths that branched out from minimalism. The exhibition includes significant, heavily material works by such major figures of minimalism as Donald Judd, Robert Morris and Richard Stella.

Full House - The Kouri Collection and Minimalist Adventures in America presents artworks from the giants of Minimalism. Occupying two floors in Kiasma, the show traces paths spawned by minimalism from the late 1960s to the present. The works are made from an eclectic range of materials, including aspirin, milk, marble and light.

The artists in the exhibition are: Ricci Albenda, Francis Alÿ, Walter de Maria, Olafur Eliasson, Dan Flavin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Koo Jeong-A, Donald Judd, Jannis Kounellis, Wolfgang Laib, Richard Long, Robert Longo, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Roman Opalka, John Pilson, Richard Serra, Robert Smithson, Frank Stella, and James Turrel.

The exhibition comprises 27 works of art, 13 of which are on loan from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on New York.

Interior of an art gallery with abstract paintings and sculptures on white walls and a curved ceiling, with a few visitors viewing the artworks.

Julian Schnabel: The Conscious Gaze of Frightened Young Nuns

8.3.–13.4.2008

Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

Project manager

The new works of the grown up ‘enfant terrible’ are linked with the sensational ‘plate paintings’ of the 1980s in an exhibition presenting the career of the prolific artist.