Galerie Anhava

Santeri Tuori is on view as part of Hamburger Kunsthalle’s exhibition Caspar David Friedrich – Art for New Age, taking place 15 Dec 2023 – 01 April 2024 in Hamburg, Germany. The celebratory exhibition marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840), centering on a retrospective with more than 60 paintings and about 100 drawings. Also featured are selected works by Friedrich’s colleagues. A separate section of the exhibition brings together responses to Friedrich in contemporary art. Some 20 international artists working across a variety of genres and media set out to explore the Romantic era, its attitude to nature, and the art of Caspar David Friedrich.
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Kari Vehosalo has been awarded the William Thuring main prize by the Finnish Art Society.

Karoliina Hellberg takes part in Ásmundarsalur’s annual Christmas exhibition in Reykjavik, Iceland. The group exhibition, running from 2 Dec to 23 Dec 2023, presents works by 32 contemporary artists, most of whom have created work specifically for this exhibition. On view are also works by Loji Höskuldsson, who shared Galerie Anhava’s exhibition space with Hellberg in last year’s December. Ásmundarsalur also publishes a book that gives an insight into the studios and the minds of the participating artists. The exhibition is curated by Heiða Magnúsdóttir, Helga Jóakimsdóttir and Ólöf Rut Stefánsdóttir.
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Image: Karoliina Hellberg, Secret Chamber and the First Snow, 2023, acrylic and oil on canvas, 140 x 100 cm. Photo: Jussi Tiainen

Noora Schroderus is on view at Passagen Linköpings Konsthall, Sweden, until 13 January 2024. The Spectacles of Truth exhibition, with works by Schroderus and artist Olle Stjerne, explores what sculpture can mean today, and challenges our traditional views of it. With a strong belief in the bodily presence of sculpture, Schroderus and Stjerne conduct a dialogue about how we experience and interact with our physical surroundings in an increasingly digitized world.
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Image: Noora Schroderus, Reference Letter, 2023, plastic letters, mdf, stainless steel, 2x 176 × 100 × 3 cm. Photo: Noora Schroderus

Artist duo Grönlund–Nisunen takes part in Serlachius museum Gösta’s group exhibition CATCH in Mänttä with their new kinetic installation Falling (2023). In the work, the acrylic weights falling from the ceiling by a wire stop a few millimeters above the surface of the dark water pool, only to rise back up almost immediately. Occasionally, one of the weights descends to the water, creating rippling wave patterns. The aim of the work is to explore and illustrate the precise control of movement caused by gravity, while creating a subtle, meditative viewing experience. “Whether something falls from a height, or whether it rises downward – this is still undecided“, Jyrki Siukonen writes in the exhibition publication.

CATCH is curated by Laura Kuurne and Eeva Ilveskoski, and it runs until 14 April 2024. In the works of the exhibition the world is in motion. “Life is incredibly rich and precious in its details. What do we want to stop at, what do we notice and what do we remember? What can we extract from the flow of life?”
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Photo: Petteri Nisunen

Mari Sunna’s painting Bloody Mary can be seen in The Way We Are exhibition at the Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, in Bremen, Germany. The work is part of a section showcasing works from the Miettinen Collection. Altogether on display are more than 120 works from 100 artists and artist groups. The exhibition runs until 30 August 2026.

“The depiction of nudity has always triggered controversy in art. It is not just a matter of taboos and transgressions. Which bodies and how they are shown is a contested topic in today’s world, because it calls into question our self-image as a society. The exhibited works show different artistic perspectives. Whether white or black bodies, erotic fantasies or everyday moments, androgynous bodies or stereotypical representations, nude images allow for a critical examination of cultural norms. At the same time, they ‘celebrate’ what has always fascinated artists, the diversity and beauty of human bodies.” –The Way We Are
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Image: Mari Sunna, Bloody Mary, 2019, oil on canvas, 110 x 91 cm. Photo: Jussi Tiainen

At EKKM in Tallinn, Salla Tykkä’s video work Lasso will be seen in the international group exhibition The Laugh of the Medusa, running between 27 October – 17 December 2023. The exhibition, curated by Maria Helen Känd, focuses on the bodily experiences and sexuality of women, offering alternatives to the image of women pervasive in the media and evoking different visions of what is erotic and attractive for the female gaze.

Kari Vehosalo takes part in Under the Gaze: Contemporary Art from Finland group exhibition, at Wolf & Galentz in Berlin. The first exhibition in the new series of Finnish contemporary art focuses thematically on mechanisms of subject constitution in modernity, power relations and actual or imagined free will. A special focus is on Michel Foucault’s The History of Sexuality. Other participating artists are Mika Karhu and Niina Räty. The exhibition runs from 28 September until 30 October 2023.

Works by Elina Merenmies will be on view as part of the Psychological Spaces group exhibition at Nordiska Akvarellmuseet in Skärhamn, Sweden. The exhibition features contemporary Nordic artists, whose works evoke experiences of open-ended psychological spaces, inviting each viewer to bring their own personal perceptions, ideas and memories.The exhibition is divided into three parts – landscapes, portraits and interiors.

In Vaasa, Jacob Dahlgren and Kristján Guðmundsson take part in Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art’s international group exhibition Dimensions of a Line, showing works by 18 contemporary artists and artist groups. The exhibition explores a range of how do artists work with the line, from simple pencil drawing to spatial installation.

Works by Anne Koskinen, Jussi Niva and Jacob Dahlgren will be seen at Turku Art Museum as part of the group show Fortunate Coincidences – Lars Göran Johnsson Collection from 15 September 2023 until 7 January 2024.

On Tuesday, 8 August, the public has a chance to explore Jani Ruscica’s new body of work at the Helsinki Upper Secondary School of Language in Myllypuro. The multipart, site-specific artwork is scattered around the school building, consisting of aluminum shapes and taped characters, and complemented by a sound piece created by an algorhitmic poem generator. “Between figuration and abstraction, image and language, symbol, form and shape these works alter their form performatively and in relation to the architecture,” Ruscica writes. The work is included in the City of Helsinki’s public art collection.

Vesa-Pekka Rannikko takes part in Resonance group exhibition at Kunsthalle Seinäjoki with his video works Fool’s Paradise and Eden, in which sketch-like drawing and writing form an organic, reactive, and associative whole. The international group exhibition, drawing from the world of environment, technology, and storytelling, was previously shown in 2021 at Verksmiðjan á Hjalteyri in Iceland. In addition to Rannikko’s videos, on show are works by Olga Bergmann (IS), Angela Dufresne (US), Anna Hallin (IS), and Simon Rouby (FR). Behind the concept of Resonance is the Icelandic artist-curator duo Berghall (Olga Bergmann & Anna Hallin). An essential element in their curatorial work is care and concern.

Kari Vehosalo takes part in XXVII Mänttä Art Festival, one of Finland’s leading summer exhibitions of contemporary art. This year’s festival, titled Out of Nowhere, is curated by Minna Suoniemi and Petri Ala-Maunus. On view are works by 36 artists or artist groups. Many of the artworks look for our place in and as a part of nature and our ability to live with different species. From Vehosalo on show are several new paintings, which delve deep into thickets and the dark unknown. XXVII Mänttä Art Festival is open daily until 31 August 2023.

Image: Kari Vehosalo, Passage, 2023. Photo: Erno Enkenberg

Works by Jacob Dahlgren, Grönlund–Nisunen, Matti Kujasalo, Pe Lang and Jussi Niva are featured in Sara Hildén Art Museum’s summer exhibition Art in Space, Space in Art in Tampere. The exhibition is based on the collection of the Sara Hildén Foundation, and deals with topics and questions related to space, spatiality, architecture, the built milieu and structures. The works from the collection are complemented by the commissioned artwork by Tommi Grönlund and Petteri Nisunen titled Blinds Wide Shut. The exhibition runs until 6 September 2023.

Image: Grönlund–Nisunen, Blinds Wide Shut, 2023. Photo: Jussi Koivunen / Sara Hildén Art Museum

Kari Cavén’s solo exhibition Syteen / Cavén opens at Aboa Vetus Ars Nova museum in Turku 16 June and runs until 19 November 2023. The exhibition features works from different periods, mixed media and readymade sculptures, some of them now exhibited for the first time. The concept of Cavén’s art is simple yet far from easy: it arises from a deep reflection of the properties and potential of an object or found material. The name of the exhibition is a pun in Finnish, based on the phrase ‘syteen tai saveen’ – ‘come what may’. What is essential in the phrase is the attitude that involves risk-taking and dedication.

Photo: Elisabet Cavén

Essi Kuokkanen’s solo exhibition Underbelly at Turku Art Museum’s Studio space presents paintings and drawings created during 2023. The title Underbelly alludes to something hidden, a symbolically vulnerable and weak spot or the lower part of the body. It is also a metaphor for something breaking through the defenses. Psychological and moral complexity is hidden in the actions of the characters, and conflicting emotions and intentions can coexist simultaneously in Kuokkanen’s works. Within the paintings, everything is fluid yet firmly connected to the world we live in. The exhibition runs until 27 August 2023.

Image: Horsy, 2023, oil on canvas, 37 x 30 cm

Timo Viialainen presents his sonic performance art piece Drop at Galerie Anhava on Sunday 11 June 15:00.

Anne Koskinen’s sculpture Torso VI is on view as part of Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma’s Dreamy – Queer Imaginaries exhibition, running until 26 November 2023. Dreamy presents a selection of works from the Finnish National Gallery’s collections reflecting on issues of gender and sexuality. It deals with subjects related to queer self-searching, pain, love, desire, fantasy and dream fulfillment. The term queer in this context refers to a way of being or doing that involves liberation from conventions. The exhibition is curated by Max Hannus, and features works from artists such as Nan Goldin, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Reija Meriläinen and Kalervo Palsa.

Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Pirje Mykkänen

Essi Kuokkanen is on view in Turku Art Museum’s newly opened collection exhibition Handle with Care, which explores the museum’s contemporary art collection from the perspective of care and caring. The exhibition brings out how current themes in social discussion and posthumanist thinking, such as environmental relations, interspeciesism, and neospirituality are manifested in visual art, and how art can participate and influence the resolution of the current ecological crisis.

Works by Mari Sunna are on display as part of the international group exhibition Control group: In a prism-like sight at the CLC Gallery Venture in Beijing, China. The exhibition is curated by Junyao Chen, and it runs until 15 April 2023.

Marko Vuokola’s extensive solo exhibition Ocean of Love at Kunsthalle Helsinki opens 11 March. The exhibition focuses mainly on new works presented for the first time, and the methods range from photography to moving image, from objects to drawings, sound and installations. Vuokola is a curious thinker whose condensed and minimal conceptual artworks do not exclude experience or emotions. Individual works are like letters or words that together form sentences and stories – what do a seashell, a green flash, and a glass of water have in common? The exhibition runs until 16 April 2023.

Works by Jacob Dahlgren, Matti Kujasalo, Jussi Niva and Mari Sunna are on view as part of Yrjö Kukkapuro – Magic Room exhibition at EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, running until 28 January 2024.

Works by Kari Cavén, Kristján Guðmundsson, Jorma Hautala, Jani Hänninen, Matti Kujasalo, Jussi Niva and Marko Vuokola are on view as part of the Swanljung Collection – Follow Your Heart exhibition at Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art in Vaasa. The exhibition runs through 25 February until 20 August 2023.

Santeri Tuori takes part in the group exhibition In Bloom at Fotografiska Stockholm from 17 February until 11 June 2023. The exhibition is a symbolic, philosophical and poetic exploration of nature through photography, and provides glimpses of how photographers represent and work with nature today. In Bloom brings together 16 photographers all striving to understand and explore nature and humanity’s relationship to it.

Works by Anne Koskinen and Noora Schroderus are on view at Art Museum Poikilo in Kouvola as part of the group exhibition Überhund – the Fascinating Dogs in Art. In autumn 2022 the exhibition, curated by Susanna Luojus, was displayed at the Salo Art Museum. After Poikilo, the exhibition will move on to art museums in Jyväskylä, Mikkeli, and Kuopio.

In his solo exhibition They could hear a faraway thunder at Purdy Hicks Gallery in London, Jorma Puranen continues his long-term work re-animating the history and legacy of Arctic explorations. Puranen uses archival sources and different techniques of re-photography, exploring and visualizing relations of past, landscape and culture. The title “They could hear a faraway thunder” comes from a poem of Aqqaluk Lynge, a Greenlandic poet and human rights leader. The exhibition runs 1–28 February 2023.

A K Dolven’s solo exhibition Still Life at OSL contemporary in Oslo features some of her most recent works. The exhibition is on view until 25 February 2023.

Grönlund–Nisunen’s exhibition opens at Esther Schipper gallery in Berlin on 20 January and runs through 25 February 2023. The artist duo shares the exhibition space with Ryoji Ikeda and Kaarel Kurismaa.

Works by Tor Arne, Elina Merenmies and Noora Schroderus are on view as part of the group exhibition Land of Dusk – Works from the Wihuri Foundation Collection at Rovaniemi Art Museum until 19 March 2023. The exhibition is a dark tale about the finitude as much as bewilderment over how inconceivably entangled life and the planet are. The exhibition halls are built in the spirit of the Renaissance with curiosity cabinets, or chambers, based on various themes. “Land of Dusk is a narrative rather than an exhibition.” Land of Dusk is curated by Rickard Borgström & Rebecca Chentinell / DACE – Dance Art Critical Ecology.