Heini Aho

The Square Elephant, 2017
wood, acrylic resin, furniture, wallpaper, video
159 x 108 x 53 cm

HEINI AHO (b. 1979) combines elements of sculpture, installation and the moving image into works addressing issues of space and perceptions of the environment. In her works, the analytical meets the intuitive, and the material meets the immaterial.

White Cotton, 2017
wooden furniture, fabric, bleach
76 x 22 x 20 cm

Joy of Being Together, 2016-2017
furniture, cut off corners, video
122 x 290 x 155 cm

Things Seem to Fit Together but Nothing Makes Sense, 2016
wooden objects and furniture, glass bottle, acrylic resin, fabric
118 x 119 x 91 cm

The Square Elephant, 2017
wood, acrylic, resin, furniture, wallpaper, video
159 x 108 x 53 cm

The Square Elephant
9 March-2 April 2017
exhibition view at Galeri Anhava

The Square Elephant
9 March-2 April 2017
exhibition view at Galerie Anhava

Where´s a Wall There´s a Door, 2016
wooden door frame, fabric, acrylic, resin
209 x 99 x 11 cm

The Square Elephant
9 March-2 April 2017
exhibition view at Galerie Anhava

Growing Pains, 2016
wire netting, video, acrylic resin
size variable

Earth Tone, 2016
video, acrylic resin, fabric, bleach, wire netting, metal hook
184 x 120 x 58 cm

The Square Elephant, 2017
wood, acrylic resin, furniture, wallpaper, video
159 x 108 x 53 cm

textsCVexhibitions

Exhibitions

Texts

HEINI AHO (b. 1979) combines elements of sculpture, installation and the moving image into works addressing issues of space and perceptions of the environment. The points of departure of her exhibition The Square Elephant at Galerie Anhava are crystallised in two themes. Aho considers on the one hand how we have become accustomed to viewing the world through a grid-based perspective and on the other hand how the human body or organic nature adapts to the built environment.

Aho is interested in what happens when one surrenders to the unknown to sense the world with an open mind. She observes her everyday environment, such as the branch of tree that has grown into a fence of metal netting by a roadside or how one’s hand fits just perfectly into a pocket made to measure. Nature is characterised by diversity and the various manifestations of existence, while the man-made world is largely based on rectangular or square shapes. Where do we come to the boundary beyond which the environment designed for people no longer feels good? How much leeway do we have in the built world? And how much are our everyday encounters with the environment dictated by habit?

In Heini Aho’s works, the analytical meets the intuitive, and the material meets the immaterial. Although the themes of the exhibition are initially broad, Aho’s method is always based on observing a concrete phenomenon and the law-like characteristics of the material. The form of the works and their spatial execution often bring to mind a stage or stage set. The objects and materials are an entity serving as a platform or stage for the video piece shown on a monitor. The moving image, in turn, introduces a performative dimension. In one of the videos a saw removes the corner of a cabinet and in another one hands push ever-larger objects through a dense net, until the net no longer gives way. The exhibits offer alternative, insightful and even humorous interpretations of reality. A subtly light-hearted tone typical of the artist is present in them; it may be a touch of humour, wonderment with an element of joie de vivre to it, or a surprising feeling of freedom before ordinary matters.

Heini Aho is a member of the international Videokaffe artist collective.

CV

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H E I N I  A H O

Born 1979 in Turku, Finland

STUDIES
2009–2015 Academy of Fine Arts, MFA, Helsinki
1999–2003 TUAS Arts Academy (Turku University of Applied Sciences), Degree Programme of Fine Arts, Turku

AWARDS
2016 Main prize of the William Thuring Foundation
2009 Young Artist of the Year, Arts Council of Southwest Finland
2005 Artist of the Year, Turku Artists’ Association

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • 2017
    • Square Elephant, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2016
    • The Primary Force Behind an Everyday Experience, Titanik Gallery, Turku
  • 2015
    • Playing with the Dragon, Forum Box, Helsinki
  • 2014
    • Caveman, Alkovi, Helsinki
  • 2013
    • More Black, Small Projects Gallery, Tromsø
  • 2012
    • Thought Leans on Another, MUU Gallery, Helsinki
    • Gravity Monster, Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Helsinki
  • 2011
    • Wishful Thinking, Project Room, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
    • Parallel Realities, Gallery Kakelhallen, Mariehamn, Åland (with Tamara Piilola)
  • 2010
    • Learning Some Freedom, Titanik Gallery, Turku
  • 2009
    • Alive, Old Town Hall Gallery, Turku
  • 2008
    • Illusion, Finnish Paper Art Gallery, Kuusankoski
    • Crime of Passion, Photographic Centre Peri, Turku
    • Crime of Passion, MUU Gallery, Helsinki
  • 2007
    • Put Tea in My Burns, Mältinranta Art Center, Tampere
    • Will You Live with Me On a Fire Mountain, Quartair Gallery, The Hague
    • Beasts, Plants & Porcelain White, Quartair Gallery, The Hague
  • 2006
    • Camping with Indiana, Parasit3, Helsinki
    • Camping with Indiana, B-gallery, Turku
    • Melted Paradise, Myymälä2, Helsinki (with Sebastian Ziegler)
    • White Sand Smuggler, Gallery Jangva, Helsinki
  • 2005
    • Melted Paradise, Gallery Just, Turku (with Sebastian Ziegler)
    • Riket och Nostalgi, Gallery Kakelhallen, Mariahamn, Åland (with Tamara Piilola)
    • Made in China, Rauma Art Museum, Rauma (with Päivi Kastemaa)
  • 2004
    • Wanderlust, Rajatila Gallery, Tampere (with Tamara Piilola)
  • 2003
    • Tailored Mind, Titanik Gallery, Turku
    • Leap Day, Brinkkala Gallery, Turku

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 2018
    • VIDEOKAFFE: LIFT, Cable Factory, Helsinki
    • Pori Biennale III/Centennial, Pori
    • OBJEKTI 4, Espoo
    • Cure of All, Turku Art Museum, Turku
  • 2017
    • HÄH – sculpture path, Taarasti Art Center, Nastola
    • HEINI AHO & SEBASTIAN ZIEGLER, Andtire gallery, Bremen
    • ET4U – MEETINGS video and performace festival, Central and Western Jutland
  • 2016
    • FIN_BETWEEN, Arena 1, Santa Monica Art Studios, Los Angeles
    • VIDEOKAFFE, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
    • Ornament & Beauty, Gallery Titanik, Turku
    • VIDEOKAFFE: Stress and Strain, One Art Space, New York
    • VIDEOKAFFE: Parasites & Prototypes, Open Source, New York
  • 2015
    • Sika Gallery, Bali
    • meta/data/morphosis, Or Gallery, Berlin
    • VIDEOKAFFE: Standing Alone, Gallery Huuto, Helsinki
    • VIDEOKAFFE: Time Flies, Jumps and Crawls, Gallery Luda, St. Petersburg
    • Research Lab, Parsons the New School of Design and Fashion, New York
      (with Leena Kela, Mari Krappala & Sebastian Ziegler)
  • 2014
    • The Hunters Group: Heart Side Up, Kunsthalle Helsinki
    • Fluxations – flows and currents in the city, Turku
    • The Hunters Group: House Games, Jyväskylä
    • Heponauta, Hyvinkää Art Museum
    • Restlessness, Salo Art Museum
  • 2012
    • Artists – The 117th Finnish Artists’ Exhibition, Kunsthalle Helsinki
    • Fluxations – festival of site-specific art, Turku
    • Collage, Hyvinkää Art Museum
  • 2011
    • Kuvan Kevät – MFA Degree Show of the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
    • Maximum City, Survey or Escape, 14th Jakarta Biennale
    • International environmental art event Flux Aura, Turku
    • Annual Exhibition of the Finnish Art Association, Cable Factory, Helsinki
    • Unreal World, Live Herring, Keuruu Art Museum
  • 2010
    • Erased Walls – Mediations Biennial, Poznan & Berlin
    • Kuvan Kauniit, New MA Students of the Academy of Fine Arts, Gallery Fafa, Helsinki
    • Hauska Tutustua, Holden Gallery, Manchester
  • 2009
    • Sculpture Triennal, Poznan
    • Recycling, Riihimäki Art Museum
    • Turhan tärkeys, Turku Art Museum
    • Ecology of Emotions – Mänttä Art Festival, Pekilo, Mänttä
    • CUT Contemporary Collage, Platform Gallery, Seattle
  • 2008
    • Live Herring, Jyväskylä Art Museum
    • KiC NordArt, Germany
    • New Painting, Lahti Art Museum
  • 2007
    • Passion of Mankind – Luleå Summer Biennial, Luleå
    • Art of Bassware, Sanoma House, Helsinki
  • 2006
    • Art of Bassware, Sanoma House, Helsinki
  • 2005
    • Trialogi group: Titanik Gallery, Turku
    • Trialogi group: MUU Gallery, Helsinki
    • Trialogi group: Platform, Vaasa
    • Annual Exhibition of the Finnish Art Association, Porvoo Art Factory
    • Art of Analyste, Sanoma House, Helsinki
  • 2004
    • Annual Exhibition of the Finnish Art Association, Rovaniemi Art Museum
    • Rajaton – exhibition of young Finnish artists, Taidekeskus Ahjo, Joensuu
    • FORREST, Poriginal Gallery, Pori (with Sirkku Ketola & Tamara Piilola)
    • Turku Artist’s Association’s 80th Annual Exhibition, Old Town Hall Art Gallery, Turku
    • Elämä, Victor Barsokevitch Photographic Centre, Kuopio
    • Art of Analyste, Sanoma House, Helsinki
    • Citymind, Platform, Vaasa
  • 2003
    • Young Artists, Kunsthalle Helsinki
  • 2001
    • Me – Object, street exhibition in Reykjavik
    • SIE project, Museum of Modern Art Chaplin, Pärnu

SELECTED SCREENINGS

  • 2015
    • Lux Helsinki Festival, screening by AV-Arkki, Helsinki
    • Kinos Film Festival, screening by AV-Arkki, Lahti
  • 2012
    • Cyberfest 2012, St. Petersburg
  • 2011
    • Voyage – Performance 2011 Festival, MUU Gallery, Helsinki
    • Fluxations – flows and currents in the city, Turku
    • Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Riga
    • FRISE Kunstlerhaus, Hamburg
    • KUMU Art Museum, Tallinn
  • 2010
    • Time Is Love 3., Werk-Raum, Berlin
  • 2009
    • 80+1 Kilpisjärvi / A Journey Around the World, Linz
    • Constructed Realities, FRISE, Hamburg
    • subvision.art.festival.off., Hamburg

RESIDENCIES AND SEMINARS

  • 2015
    • Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
  • 2014
    • KONE Foundation: Saari Residence, Mynämäki
  • 2013
    • Pro Artibus: AIR residency, Ekenäs
  • 2012
    • Sfakiotes residency, Greece
  • 2010
    • Residence program of the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York
  • 2009
    • TAC – The Arctic Circle
  • 2008
    • HIAP: Centre d´Art i Natura de Farrera, Catalonia
    • Väinö Tanner Foundation: Mazzano
    • Villa Karo, Finnish-African cultural centre residency in Benin
  • 2006
    • Finnish Artists’ Studio Foundation: Centre Meduse, Quebec City

WORKS IN COLLECTIONS
Art of Analyste
Finnish Art Society
Helsinki Art Museum
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art
Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection
Turku University Hospital/T-Hospital
The Finnish State Art Collection
Wihuri Collection / Rovaniemi Art Museum

MEMBERSHIPS
The Arts Council of Southwest Finland (2013–2014)
AV-arkki
Turku Art Association
Artist Association MUU
Association of Finnish Sculptors
Arte ry
Kuvasto