Jani Hänninen

Untitled, 2021
mixed media on canvas
150x150cm

JANI HÄNNINEN creates crisp and delicious art. His paintings and drawings are insightful representations of pain, lunacy, social unsuccessfulness, intoxication, and other distressing feelings and moods. The energy of his works, their engaging characters and shapes, influenced by the traditions of street art, art history and popular culture, all contribute to a cohesive experience characterised by a sense of longing, playful levity, and furious intensity. The individual letters or short combinations of letters in the works function both as linguistic cues and as autonomous visual and linguistic forms that are important to the artist. 

Jani Hänninen (b. 1974, Helsinki) has held several solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions, e.g. at Gallery 21 in Malmö, Turku Art Museum, Weserburg Museum of Modern Art in Bremen, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Bourouina Gallery in Berlin, and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City. His work is included in collections such as Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Malmö Art Museum, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Sara Hildén Art Museum and Tampere Art Museum. 2010 Hänninen won the William Thuring Grand Prize, and in 2014 he was shortlisted for the Carnegie Art Award.

Matematico, 2020
mixed media on canvas
71 x 66 cm

In private collection

Lupara Bianca, 2020
mixed media on canvas
76 x 66 cm

State Art Commission

Odd One Out
14 Jan – 7 Feb 2021
exhibition view

Odd One Out
14 Jan – 7 Feb 2021
exhibition view

Medical History, 2020
mixed media on canvas
130 x 130 cm

In private collection

Traffic Lights, 2018
mixed media on canvas
144,5 x 120,5 cm

In private collection

Tres Amigos, 2018
mixed media on canvas
120 x 120 cm

Call It a Day
1–25 Nov 2018
exhibition view

Less is More, 2013
mixed media on canvas
150 x 150 cm

In Vexi Salmi Collection

Soft Spoken, 2018
mixed media on canvas
115 x 84,5 cm

In private collection

Green Button, 2015
mixed media on canvas
Ø 90cm

Volcano 5, 2015
mixed media on canvas
140 x 140 cm

In private collection

Selection of available works. For the full list, please contact galerie(at)anhava.com

Pink Cloud, 2019
mixed media on canvas
81 x 80 cm

Visual Basic, 2021
mixed media on canvas
160 x 140 cm

Nobody Rides for Free, 2020
mixed media on canvas
121 x 109,5 cm

Off the Grid, 2018
mixed media on canvas
140 x 140 cm

Sky Above, 2020
mixed media on canvas
110 x 100 cm

New Start, 2021
mixed media on canvas
140,5 x 140,5 cm

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BioCVExhibitions

Exhibitions

Bio

JANI HÄNNINEN (born 1974) has followed a long career as a painter. It began with urban graffiti and went on to evolve to refinement in institutes like the Free Art School and the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. The venues have changed from the street to respected galleries and art museums.

In his works, Jani Hänninen combines drawn, scratched and stencil-painted signs and designs with succulent painting employing wide brushwork.

Hänninen selects the themes and motifs of his works from a wide range of sources: newspapers and magazines, television, the internet, comic strips, music and the street. Any random impulse at all may lead to a chain of associations gradually assuming colour and form on canvas or panel. In Hänninen’s paintings, the popular imagery of the digital era is interspersed with the heritage of modernist painting, at times informalist or expressivist.

Jani Hänninen’s paintings are layered and may at first sight appear to be spontaneous and quickly created emotional outbursts, but this is not the case. He plans and composes his works, thinking and painting until the piece expresses precisely what he aims at.

There is a great deal to see in Hänninen’s paintings. The first thing to be perceived is a large form that sometimes resembles some kind of ground plan for a building or the fenestration of the façade of an apartment building. Almost endless details of diverse forms then start to emerge that may lead the narrative of the image in completely different directions, while ultimately creating, in their own capricious way a balanced and firm entity.

CV

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J A N I  H Ä N N I N E N

Born in 1974 in Helsinki, Finland.
Lives and works in Espoo, Finland.

EDUCATION
1998–2003 Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
1997           Free Art School, Helsinki

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • 2020
    • Odd One Out, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  •  2019
    • Homeworks, Make Your Mark Gallery, Helsinki
  • 2018
    • Call It a Day, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2016
    • Perfect Blue, Bourouina Gallery, Berlin
  • 2015
    • (Continuous Mix) 2015, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2014
    • Galleri 21, Malmö
  • 2013
    • Art Salon Husa, Tampere
  • 2012
    • Room 40, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2011
    • Make Your Mark Gallery, Helsinki
  • 2010
    • Full Circle, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
    • Sleep It Off, Art Salon Husa, Tampere
  • 2008
    • Likainen tusina, Art Salon Husa, Tampere
  • 2007
    • Gallery Alkovi, Helsinki
    • Galerie Anhava Project Room, Helsinki
    • Art Salon Husa, Tampere
  • 2005
    • Notes from the Underground, Galerie Anhava Project Room, Helsinki
  • 2003
    • Kluuvi Gallery, Helsinki
  • 2002
    • Galerie Anhava Project Room, Helsinki
    • Installation at Kamppi Metro Station, Helsinki
    • Finnish Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Helsinki
  • 2000
    • Finnish Academy of Fine Arts Main School, Helsinki
  • 1999
    • Espoo Art Center
  • 1998
    • Jorvi Hospital Lobby, Espoo

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 2023
    • Summer Exhibition, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
    • Swanljung Collection – Follow Your Heart, Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa
  • 2022-2023
    • Vexi Salmi and Friends, Hämeenlinna Art Museum
  • 2020
    • Elämän viiva, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Rovaniemi Art Museum
    • Löytöretkiä, Lars Göran Johnsson Collection, Turku Art Museum
    • Hullu rakkaus, Seppo Fränti Collection, Kiasma Art Museum, Helsinki
  • 2019
    • Byrokratia, Galleria Rankka, Helsinki
    • Odysseia – matka taiteessa, Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa
    • Espoolainen taide 50 vuotta, Galleria Aarni, Espoo
  •  2018
    • Con Amore, Wihuri collection, Korundi Rovaniemi Art Museum
    • Metro – KuvataideE – Espoo, Gallery AARNI, Espoo
  • 2017
    • Vallaton – Rascal, Vantaa Art Museum Artsi
    • Dreamaholic, Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen
    • Itsenäinen taide, Association of Espoo Visual Arts, Galleria Aarni, Espoo
  • 2016
    • From Heino With Love, HAM Helsinki Art Museum
    • Keräilyn vimma, Works from the collection of Vexi Salmi, Lappeenranta Art Museum
  • 2015
    • Dark Days, Bright Nights: Contemporary Paintings from Finland, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
  • 2014
    • Art as a Passion, Works from the collection of Vexi Salmi, Lahti Art Museum
    • Vanity Case 2014, Bourouina Gallery, Berlin
  • 2013
    • Carnegie Art Award 2014, The Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm
    • The 7th Wave, Wihuri and Visual Art, Korundi, Rovaniemi
    • Salon Dahlmann, Berlin
    • The 7th Wave, Wihuri and Visual Art, Lönnström Art Museum, Rauma
    • The 7th Wave, Wihuri and Visual Art, South-Karelia Art Museum, Lappeenranta
  • 2012
    • The 7th Wave, Wihuri and Visual Art, Kunsthalle Helsinki
    • Collection Extravaganza from Edelfelt to Kasitonni, Hämeenlinna Art Museum
    • Vielä mitä, Association of Espoo Visual Artists, Gallery Aarni, Espoo
    • Thank You for the Music, Kiasma, Helsinki
    • Just Life, Works of Art from the Vexi Salmi Collection, Rauma Art Museum
  • 2011
    • Silmän iloja, Tradeka Group Art Collection, Kemi Art Museum
    • Sohvaperunasatoa, Association of Espoo Visual Artists, Gallery Aarni, Espoo
    • Art Salon Husa, Summer Exhibition, Tampere
    • Is it true? Tampere Art Museum’s 80th Anniversary Exhibition, Tampere
  • 2010
    • New Impressions, Gallery Bourouina, Berlin
    • Olotila OK!, Sara Hildénin taidemuseo, Tampere
    • Art Salon Husa, Summer Exhibition, Tampere
  • 2009
    • Ihmisen jäljet, Oulu Museum of Art
  • 2007
    • Apis mellifera, Gallery Aarni, Espoo
    • Zoo, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
    • Art Salon Husa, Tampere
    • I Love Malmö, Turku Art Museum, Turku
  • 2006
    • Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere
    • Outsiders, Galleria Oma Huone, Helsinki
    • Ikahu ry & Jani Hänninen, Happihuone 02, Helsinki
    • 111th Exhibition by Finnish Art Association, Young Artists, Kunsthalle Helsinki
    • Passion for Art, Vexi Salmi Art Collection, Hämeenlinna Art Museum
  • 2004
    • Degree Show, Academy of Fine Arts, Kunsthalle Helsinki
    • Finsk-Norsk Kulturinstitutt Rådhusgalleriet, Oslo
    • Hall of Fame, Helsinki graffiti exhibition
  • 2003
    • Keksi City Art Exhibition, Lahti Artists’ Association, Lahti
    • Ideologia II Art Biennial, Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, Gothenburg
    • 108th Exhibition by Finnish Art Association, Young Artists, Helsinki
  • 2002
    • Bileet joka huoneessa, Helsinki City Art Museum

COLLECTIONS
Apoteksbolagets Konstförening
Helsinki City Art Museum
Jorvi Hospital
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art
Kuntsi Art Museum, Lars Swanljung Collection
Malmö Art Museum
Pori Art Museum, Lars-Göran Johnsson Collection
Päivi and Paavo Lipponen Collection
EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Saastamoinen Foundation
Sara Hildén Art Museum
Finnish Artists Association
City of Tampere
Tampere Art Museum
Hämeenlinna Art Museum, Vexi Salmi Collection
Rovaniemi Art Museum, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Art Collection
Heino Art Foundation

MEMBERSHIPS
Association of Espoo Visual Artists
Finnish Painters’ Union

AWARDS, NOMINATIONS
2017       Pro Arte grant
2014       Shortlisted for the Carnegie Art Award
2010       Finnish Art Association, William Thuring Grand Prize