Jussi Niva

Matter Overleaf, 2019
oil on board
125 x 75 x 13 cm

In Lars-Göran Johnsson Collection

JUSSI NIVA is interested in the balance between mass and visual space. His works feature three-dimensional freely folded painted surfaces that give the impression of the painted surface having separated from its base and turning freely in relation to the wall and the viewer. These works merge their beautifully painted execution with a feeling of effortlessness and a precise rhythm. The artist’s palette combines heraldic and strong fields of colour with the material hues of soil, rust and clay. Alongside painterly expression Jussi Niva’s work characteristically involves thinking about the medium of painting, its form of expression. Connections with cubism, futurism and constructivism alike, as well as the Japanese origami tradition, can be seen in the works. 

Jussi Niva (b. 1966, Pello) lives and works in Helsinki. He has held several solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions internationally, most recently at Galerie Biesenbach in Cologne, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst in Bremen, Galerie Philipp von Rosen in Cologne, Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Salon Dahlmann in Berlin, and EMMA, Espoo Museum of Modern Art. He took part in the Venice Biennale in 1993. There are works by Niva in several private and public collections, including Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, the Finnish State Art Collection, Malmö Art Museum, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Miettinen Collection and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Collection.

From Within, 2023
acrylic on board
site-specific painting, dimensions variable

Photo: Sameli Rantanen

Free-floating
12 January – 12 February 2023

Photo: Jussi Tiainen

Upthrust, 2022
oil on board
149 x 119 x 14 cm

Matter
9 Jan – 2 Feb 2020

Dazzle Camo, 2019
oil on board
62 x 100 x 26 cm

In Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art collection

Matter
9 Jan – 2 Feb 2020

Matter, 2019
oil on board
207 x 285 x 22 cm

In Sara Hildén Art Museum collection

Matter, Throughout, 2018
oil on board
156 x 126 x 24 cm

Mime, 2017
oil on board
210 x 170 cm

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

Free-floating (6), 2022
oil on board
160 x 101 x 24 cm

Free-floating (3), 2022
oil on board
160 x 100 x 24 cm

Overleaf, 2020
oil on board
122 x 119 x 15 cm

Sight, 2019
oil on board
120 x 26 x 24 cm

Cut Short, 2022
Oil on board
50 x 159 x 20 cm

Throughout, 2018
oil on board
156 x 126 x 24 cm

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BioCVExhibitions

Exhibitions

Bio

JUSSI NIVA (b. 1966) paints two-dimensional surfaces and three-dimensional objects in parallel. He aims at detaching the experience of three-dimensionality from the ‘modelled form’ and link it instead to the surface of the painting. The three-dimensional works are interventions of sorts, they thrust into the space but conversely they also project space.

Paradoxically, he works with them in opposite directions spatially. Niva constructs two-dimensional works by painting a volume or by piercing the surface. When he paints three-dimensional pieces, he does it optically against a wall. Thus this method can be associated with reliefs and the experience of depth in them.

The surfaces in Jussi Niva’s work do indeed break up and search for direction. The sharp angles are above all points where the surface of the painting makes a turn, disrupting its frontality, which immediately makes the work more interesting. Viewers find themselves in a danger zone or embroiled in something that exists independently of them.

Dividing a plane into ever-smaller parts will always involve geometry or mathematics. Niva’s geometry is of a kind of cut-and-fold type and the eventfulness is generally not logical; he is interested in seemingly impossible spatiality. He constructs spatial paradoxes into his works, surfaces of collision or friction that seem to lead to a destination. The situation is a bit similar to groping one’s way blindly in a new environment.

The spatial experience of Jussi Niva’s work cannot be fixed to any single cognitive or experiential point. Instead, the works are loaded with elements that lead to fracture, such as acute angles where the surface of the painting takes a surprising turn. He also deliberately uses a forceful stroke technique to give the planes a spatial direction and an accelerating motion. Often, however, this conflicts with the three-dimensionality. Such disturbances or intervention are intriguing.

CV

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JUSSI NIVA

Born 1966 in Pello
Lives and works in Helsinki

STUDIES
1984–1989  Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • 2023
    • Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2020
    • Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2016
    • Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki
  • 2014
    • Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki
  • 2012
    • Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm
    • Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki
  • 2009
    • Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm
  • 2008
    • Gallery Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary, Helsinki
  • 2005
    • Gallery Sculptor, Helsinki
  • 2004
    • Gallery Heino, Helsinki
  • 2002
    • Gallery Kari Kenetti, Helsinki
  • 2001
    • The Aine Art Museum, Tornio
  • 2000
    • Viive gallery, Rovaniemi
    • Ama gallery, Turku
  • 1999
    • Gallery Kari Kenetti, Helsinki
  • 1997
    • Galerie Artek, Helsinki
  • 1995
    • Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm
  • 1994
    • Galerie Artek, Helsinki
    • Galerie Quartair, The Hague
  • 1992
    • Galerie Gebauer u. Günther, Berlin
  • 1991
    • Galerie Artek, Helsinki
  • 1990
    • Kluuvi Gallery, Helsinki

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 2022
    • XXVI Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä
  • 2021
    • Sculptural. Painting., Galerie Biesenbach, Cologne
    • Selected works from Galerie Anhava artists, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2020
    • Abstract Art from the Miettinen Collection, Berlin Art Week, Salon Dahlman, Berlin
    • The Way We Are 2.0, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen
    • Art Matters, Online Only Group Exhibition, Galerie Biesenbach, Cologne
  • 2019
    • The Space of Painting, Philipp von Rosen Galerie, Cologne
    • Out of Office, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere
    • Shared Dreams, Works from the Heino Art Foundation Collection, Oulu museum of Art, Oulu
  • 2018
    • Offspace, Zsófi Barabás – Jussi Niva, Gallery Faur Zsófi, Budapest
    • Ich bin ein Riss, ich will durch Wände gehen, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin
    • Two-Way Ahead, Jussi Niva – Juri Markkula, Hanaholmen Gallery, Espoo
    • Imaginary Meeting, Rovaniemi Art Museum Korundi, Rovaniemi
    • Killing Me Softly, Works from the Miettinen Collection, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin
  • 2017
    • Signature, Habitare, Messukeskus/Expo and Convention Centre, Helsinki
    • Real Celebration!, Rovaniemi Art Museum Korundi, Rovaniemi
    • Nokia’s Donation, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo
    • Dreamaholic – Art from Finland. Miettinen Collection, Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen
  • 2016
    • In Wonderland, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin
    • Living Collection: Facing the Public, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere
    • From Heino With Love, Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki
  • 2015
    • Clear Form, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki
    • Touch, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo
    • Summer Exhibition, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki
  • 2014
    • Splendid Views, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin
    • Vinternatt, Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm
    • Black Market – Sand in Vaseline, L17 project space, Berlin
    • Black Market Sinne, Sinne, Helsinki
    • Feel the Spirit, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo
    • Unknown Masterpieces, Wonderloch Kellerland
    • Black Market, Stockholm
    • Space – Abstract Intervention & Social Media, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin
  • 2013
    • Kiasma Hits, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
    • Events in Nature, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo
    • The 7th Wave – Wihuri and Visual Art, Lönnström Art Museum, Rauma
    • Sommerprogramm, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin
    • Panorama, Lars Bohman Gallery, Stockholm
    • Summer 2013, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki
  • 2012
    • The Magic of Lapland, Korundi, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Rovaniemi
    • The 7th Wave – Wihuri and Visual Art,Kunsthallen, Helsinki
    • Art Market / Galerie Forsblom, Stockholm
    • The Armory Show/ Galerie Forsblom, New York
  • 2011
    • Kesä – Sommar – Summer 2011, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki
    • Know the Landscape, Jyväskylä Art Museum
    • The Magic of Lapland, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki
    • Spatial Places: The Poetry of Places, Fiskars village, Fiskars
  • 2009
    • ArtHelsinki 09, Gallery Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary, Helsinki
    • Flash! – Light and Movement, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere
    • I Love Malmö, Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn
    • Swanljung Meets Malmö, Malmö Art Museum, Malmö
    • The Site of Painting, Pori Art Museum, Pori
    • Carnegie Art Award, Centre International d´Art Contemporain, Carros
  • 2008
    • Kuvan jälkeen, Image and After, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
    • Carnegie Art Award, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden / Oslo; Den Frie Udstilling Copenhagen; Listasafn Kópavogs, Kópavogur / Reykjavík; Konstakademien, Stockholm; Royal College of Art, London; Göteborgs konstmuseum, Gothenburg
    • Tuhlaajapojan paluu, Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa
  • 2007
    • Carnegie Art Award, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
    • Taiteilijatiloja, Jugend-sali, Helsinki
    • Maalaus ja valokuva ja maalaus, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Helsinki
    • I Love Malmö, Turku Art Museum, Turku; Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa
    • Kuntsin ikonit 1, Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa
  • 2006
    • Suspended E-motion, Galerija Vartai, Vilnius
  • 2005
    • Vastamaalattu – Painture Fraiche!, Kerava Art Museum, Kerava
    • Työnimi: Heijastuksia, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Helsinki
    • Stockholm Art Fair / Galleria Heino, Stockholm
    • X Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä
    • Purnu 2005, Orivesi
  • 2004
    • Vastamaalattu – Peinture Fraiche!, Le Triage, Nanterre
    • Talviunia – Hibernations, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Rovaniemi
  • 2003
    • Maisema nyt, Mikkeli Art Museum, Mikkeli
  • 2002
    • Over the Horizon, Malmö konstmuseum, Malmö
  • 2001
    • Soome Nûûdiskunst – Kekarainen – Niva – Vuokola, Eesti Kunstimuuseumi, Tallinn
    • Interface – Kosketuspintoja, 3rd Triennale of Finnish Art, Gothenburg
    • Konstmuseum, Gothenburg; Kunsthalle Helsinki, Helsinki
  • 2000
    • Europe – Different Perspectives in Painting, Museo Michetti, Francavilla al Mare, Italy
    • Pohjoismainen postmodernismi, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
    • 100 VR-makasiini, Helsinki
  • 1999
    • Carnegie Art Award, Kunsthalle, Helsinki; Listasafn Islands, Reykjavik
    • Finnish Line: Starting Point, Musées de Strassbourg, Strassbourg
    • Pohjoinen maisema, Salo Art Museum, Salo
    • Kekarainen – Niva – Vuokola, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
  • 1998
    • Carnegie Art Award,Konstakademien, Stockholm; Sophienholm, Copenhagen; Stenersenmuseet, Oslo
  • 1997
    • Galleri Wynick / Tuck, Toronto
    • Art Goes Kapakka, Restaurant Taidehalli, Helsinki
    • TAiDETTA, Konstens hus, Luleå
    • Kari Cavén – Henrietta Lehtonen – Jussi Niva, Galleria Kari Kenetti, Helsinki
  • 1996
    • TAiDETTA, Karlskrona Konsthall, Karlskrona; Västerås Konstmuseum, Västerås; Norrköpings Konstmuseum, Norrköping; Skövde Konsthall, Skövde; Värmlands Museum, Karlstad
    • Konst i hemmiljö, The Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art, Helsinki
    • Comp I Box, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
    • Enter, Kunsthalle, Helsinki
  • 1995
    • ARS-95, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
    • Air Water Earth, Takaoka Art Museum, Takaoka; Fukuyama Museum of Art, Fukuyama; Turku Art Museum, Turku; Galerie Löhrl, Mönchengladbach
  • 1994
    • Ennakkoluuloja – Fördomar, Östergötland Country Museum, Lindköping; Oulu City Art Museum, Oulu; Örebro länsmuseum, Örebro; Landskrona konsthall, Landskrona; Museum for Contemporary Art, Warsaw; Museum for Contemporary Art, Vilnius
    • Nordisk Önskemuseum, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg
    • 8 rum till måleri, Galleri F 15 Alby, Moss
    • Grreen, Tourch Gallery, Amsterdam
    • Nina Roos – Jussi Niva, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere
    • Air Water Earth, The Azabu Museum for Arts and Crafts, Tokyo
  • 1993
    • Fünf Bilder, Galerie Gebauer u. Günther, Berlin
    • XLV La Biennale di Venezia, Nordic Pavilion, Venice
    • Entrée, The Lönnström Art Museum, Rauma
    • Valintoja, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere
    • Transit, The National Museum of Finland, Helsinki
    • Ennakkoluuloja – Fördomar, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm; The Nordic Institute for Contemporary, Art, Helsinki
  • 1992
    • Välimatkoja – Avstånd, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
    • Documenta IX, Kassel
    • Rakkautta raunioilla, Tampere Museum of Contemporary Art, Tampere
    • Finlandi Dá -92, Stockholm
    • Tidsanda, Malmö Art Museum, Malmö
  • 1991
    • Seeing, Näkeminen, Pori Art Museum, Pori
    • Tillstand Switches, Stedhalle, Zürich
    • Face to Face – Ars Baltica Prolog, Kunsthalle zu Kiel / Stadgalerie im Sophienhof, Kiel; Kunsthalle Latvija, Museum of Foreign Art, Riga; Künstlerhaus Bethanien / Kunst-Werke, Berlin
    • Aurora 4, The Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Kulturhuset, Stockholm
  • 1990
    • Finnish Visions, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
  • 1989
    • Finnish Painters´union 60th aniversary exhibition, The Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art, Helsinki
    • Pori Art Museum, Pori

PUBLIC ART WORKS
2022 Hotel Ax, Helsinki
2010 M in Us, Vasakronan, Stockholm
1999 Expose #43-46, Finnish Embassy, Berlin
1998 Expose, Vuosaari metro station, Helsinki

COLLECTIONS
Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere
HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki
Pori Art Museum, Pori
Malmö Art Museum, Malmö
Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Rovaniemi
Aine Art Museum, Tornio
Turku Art Museum, Turku
Oulu City Art Museum, Oulu
Hämeenlinna Art Museum, Hämeenlinna
EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo
The City of Tampere
The National Public Art Council, Sweden
Miettinen Collection, Germany
The Rafaela and Kaj Forsblom Collection, Helsinki
Heino Art Collection, Helsinki
Swanljung Collection, Finland
Saastamoinen Foundation, Helsinki
The Finnish State Art Collection

AWARDS
2009 Fine Arts Association of Finland, William Thuring Prize
1998 Carnegie Art Awards, Scholarship to a young artist
1996 Young Art Finland Prize