Vesa-Pekka Rannikko

Plenty, 2024, installation view. Photo: Jussi Tiainen

VESA-PEKKA RANNIKKO is a versatile artist working with painting, sculpture, video and installation. He is fascinated by the fragmented nature of narrative structure, various types of mediums, and the simultaneity of different kinds of texts. Where as his abstract works seek to refer only to themselves and the process of making them, the figurative works, or “lying sculptures”, raise questions about the work’s relationship to reality, its topic, and the linguistic nature of vision. The video works and animations are characterized by associativity: combinations of the artificial structures of society, authentic experience and imagery related to nature. Sketch-like drawing and writing become combined in the stop motion images, where they form an organic, reactive, and associative whole.  

Vesa-Pekka Rannikko’s (b. 1968, Turku) lives and works in Helsinki. His art has been featured in various solo and group exhibitions and video art festivals internationally, including at Kling & Bang Gallery, Reykjavik; Nordic de Lights, London; Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere; Kemper Art Museum, Kansas City, U.S.A.; Galeri Lars Olsen, Copenhagen; and Alvar Aalto museum, Jyväskylä. Rannikko represented Finland in the Venice Biennale in 2011. His works are included in numerous collections, such as the collections of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Helsinki City Art Museum, and the Saastamoinen Foundation. Rannikko has made many commissioned, large-scale public works, most recently in Vantaa, Tuusula and Seinäjoki. In 2015 he won the State of Finland Prize for Fine Arts.

Plenty, 2024, installation view

Vicas, 2023
dyed plaster
75 x 41 x 30 cm

Plenty, installation view, 2021

Skin (P.A.N.D.A Team Leader), 2020
dyed plaster
64 x 27 x 23 cm

Lions Eat Grass
14 May – 13 June 2021
exhibition view

Fool's Paradise, 2021
animated drawing, single channel, vertical 4 K / HD projection on wall, sound
3 min, 42 s

Paauat, 2017
pigmented plaster
42 x 32 x 23 cm

In Niemistö Foundation Collection

Everything Else
4–27 May 2018
exhibition view

Huuso, 2017
pigmented plaster
38 x 23 x 18 cm

In private collection

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

Mima, 2023
dyed plaster
88 x 42 x 38 cm

Lihe, 2023
dyed plaster
117 x 35 x 36 cm

Orha, 2023
dyed plaster
63 x 34 x 40 cm

Skin (Bushranger)
2021
dyed plaster
72 x 37 x 31 cm

Snowy owl
2021
dyed plaster
41 x 117 x 82 cm

Flowers for cats
2021
dyed plaster
93 x 29 x 34 cm

Keestes
2005–2018
pigmented plaster
53 x 25 x 29 cm

Follge
2016
gouache and acrylic
paste on paper
36 x 26 x 4,5 cm

Tahab
2017–2018
pigmented plaster
53 x 24 x 29 cm

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BioCVExhibitions

Exhibitions

Bio

VESA-PEKKA RANNIKKO (b. 1968) is a versatile artist working with painting, sculpture, video and installation. He is fascinated by the fragmented nature of narrative structure, various types of mediums, and the simultaneity of different kinds of texts. 

His figurative plaster sculptures are reminiscent of paintings. Rannikko creates them by building layers of colour and using the trowel like a brush. He refers to the works as “lying sculptures” because of the conflicting experience they evoke by producing a mixture of two- and three-dimensional sensations. This results in dialogues between embodied perception and illusion. The dissonance raises questions about the work’s relationship to reality, its topic, and the linguistic nature of vision.

Rannikko’s abstract works seek to refer only to themselves and the process of making them. Nonetheless, the common denominator of all the piece is to address the question of how an abstract work of art will inevitably gain meanings also from beyond itself. It is thus possible to aim at abstraction, but the results will always acquire narrative features through references, the process of making the piece or for instance the personal history of the artist or the viewer.

The video works and animations are characterized by associativity: combinations of the artificial structures of society, authentic experience and imagery related to nature. They apply as their means of narrative the whole visual surface, thus borrowing their simultaneous manner of representation from collage and comic strips, among other sources. Sketch-like drawing and writing become combined in the stop motion images, where they form an organic, reactive, and associative whole. The essential aspect is the combination of layered time on the visual surface with the linear manner of viewing the image.

CV

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VESA-PEKKA RANNIKKO

Born in 1968, Turku, Finland
Lives and works in Helsinki, Finland

EDUCATION
1993–1998 Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Media Studies, Helsinki (Master of Fine Arts 1997)
1996 Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Media Arts, Copenhagen
1989–1995 University of Art and Design, Department of Ceramics and Glass, Helsinki (Master of Arts 1995)
1988–1989 University of Oulu, Department of Architecture

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • 2023
    • Plenty, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2021
    • Lions Eat Grass, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2019
    • Limbo, Hippolyte Gallery, Helsinki
  • 2018
    • Everything Else, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2017
    • Pauta, Gallery Pictor, Vihti
  • 2016
    • Foma, Forum Box, Helsinki
  • 2013
    • Canary, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2012
    • Various Pictures, Galleri Lars Olsen, Copenhagen
  • 2011
    • …and all structures are unstable, Venice Biennale, Aalto Pavilion, Venice
    • Three Legs, Alvar Aalto Museum, Jyväskylä
    • Storage, A Prologue to Venice Biennale, Forum Box, Helsinki
  • 2010
    • Unknown Untitled, Galleri Thomas Wallner, Simris
  • 2007
    • Unknown Untitled, Galleri Thomas Wallner, Simris
  • 2009
    • Bird and Library, Turku Art Museum
  • 2007
    • Looking at the Picture of the Mountain with the Poet, Galleri Thomas Wallner, Malmö Specimen, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York Gallery Husa, Tampere
      Terrarium, Eskilstuna Art Museum, Örebro Konsthall
  • 2006
    • Gathering, Galerie Anhava, HelsinkiCasting, Project Room, Pori Art Museum
    • Staging, Nelimarkka Museum, Alajärvi
  • 2004
    • Fiction, Galleria Artina, Helsinki
    • Galleria K, Huittinen
  • 2003
    • Amos Anderson Art Museum (with Markus Kåhre), Helsinki
  • 2001
    • Galleri Leena Kuumola, Helsinki
  • 2000
    • In Between, Galleria Sculptor, Helsinki
    • New Works, Galleria Titanik, Turku
  • 1998
    • Kluuvi Gallery, Helsinki
  • 1997
    • Difference, Arabia Gallery, HelsinkiNow, Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
  • 1995
    • Paper Beats Stone, Gallery of Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 2023
    • Summer Salon, Kohl Gallery, Prague
    • Resonance, Kunsthalle Seinäjoki
  • 2022
    • Mänttä Art Festival
  • 2021
    • Resonance, Verksmidjan á Hjalterey, Akureyri, Iceland
  • 2020
    • Water of Life, Kling & Bang Gallery, Reykjavik, Iceland
  • 2019
    • Barfotastigen, Korppoo
  • 2018
    • Nordic deLights, Soho streets, London
    • Monkey and Waterfall, Sara Hilden Art Museum, Tampere
  • 2017
    • Costellations, Exhibition laboratory, Helsinki
    • Selfportrait, Kunsthalle Helsinki
    • Lehmä pitää viedä jäälle, jotta se tanssii, Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Bielefeld
  • 2015–2016
    • From The BOX, Czech Centre Prague
    • Occupy Space!, Rovaniemi Art Museum
    • Dark Days, Bright Nights: Contemporary Painting from Finland, Kemper Art Museum, Kansas City
  • 2014
    • Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä
    • Festen, Forum Box, Helsinki
    • This Year’s Model, Kunsthall Grenland, Porsgrunn
  • 2013
    • 7th Wave, Helsinki Kunsthall, Helsinki
    • Kiasma Hits, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
  • 2011
    • Wäinö, Gallery Maaret Finnberg, Turku
    • Kind of Nice, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
  • 2010
    • Many Faces of Death, Wäinö Aaltonen Art Museum, Turku
  • 2009
    • Kicks, Forum Box, HelsinkiMurban, Artborg, Sipoo
  • 2008
    • Fluid Street, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
    • Sculpture and Object XIII, Bratislava
    • Carnegie Art Award (including): Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo; Den Frie Udstilling, Copenhagen; Listasafn Kopavogur, Kopavogur/Reykjavik; Konstakademien, Stockholm; Royal College of Art, London; Gothenburg Museum of Art
  • 2007
    • Carnegie Art Award, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
    • Beginnings: Sculptors as Draftsmen, Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York
    • Zoo, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
    • Boogie Woogie, Kunsthalle Helsinki
  • 2006
    • Flower as Picture, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
    • Eye to Eye, Anttolanhovi, Anttola
    • Moving in Margins, Vantaa Art Museum
  • 2005
    • Turku Biennial, Aboa Vetus Ars Nova, Turku
    • Labyrintti, Kuparipaja, Fiskars
    • Art Center Purnu, Orivesi
    • VIEW 2005, Forum Box, Helsinki
    • Muu 18 Years, Kunsthalle Helsinki
    • Betonia, Aune’s Gallery, Kerava Art Museum
    • Finnish Artists’ Association Annual Exhibition, Kunsthalle Helsinki
  • 2004
    • European Triennial of Small-Scale Sculpture, Galerija Murska Sobota, Murska Sobota
  • 2003
    • Forum Box, Helsinki
    • KŽ03, South Karelia Art Museum, Lappeenranta
    • Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä
    • Suvi-Pinx, Sysmä
  • 2002
    • Finnish Artists’ Association Annual Exhibition, Kunsthalle Helsinki 2001
    • Galleria K, Huittinen
    • Aniceto Ortega 117, Mexico City
  • 1998
    • Artgenda98, Stockholm
  • 1997
    • Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki Spring Exhibition, HelsinkiIn&Spiritum, Galleria Rajatila, Tampere
    • Impermanent, Gallery of Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
  • 1996
    • District Heating, former premises of Criminal Investigation Department, Helsinki
    • Corner, Museum of Jakobstad
    • Enchantment, Gallery of Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki 1995 Exhibition of Young Artists, Kunsthalle Helsinki
  • 1994
    • Exhibition of Young Artists, Kunsthalle Helsinki
  • 1993
    • Exhibition of Young Artists, Kunsthalle Helsinki
    • We Must Prepare for Action, Galleria Uusikuva, Kotka and Jyväskylä City Library
  • 1992
    • Exhibition of Young Artists, Kunsthalle Helsinki
    • Borderlands, regional exhibition of Uusimaa, HelsinkiAnnilla, Gallery Allinna, Riihimäki
    • Interaction in Ceramics, University of Art and Design Helsinki
  • 1991
    • Exhibition of Young Artists, Kunsthalle HelsinkiReactions, Tampere Museum of Contemporary Art
    • PERFORMANCES with BAR (Björn Aho, Stig Baumgartner, Vesa-Pekka Rannikko)
  • 2001
    • DIA, Amorph 01, Helsinki
  • 2000
    • Method#3, Ex Teresa Arte Actual, performance festival, Mexico City
    • A method, performance and installation, Momentum Nordic Festival of Contemporary Art, Moss
    • Brother, performance and installation, Paletten, performance festival, Gothenburg
  • 1999
    • Tekotapa (Method), performance and installation, Galleria Push Firma Beige, Helsinki

PERFORMANCES with NE+
2001 Palo (Burning), Brrrr, live art festival, Porto
1998 Palo (Burning), Artgenda98, Stockholm
1997 Palo (Burning), ON performance festival, Reykjavik
Riihimäki
Ja yöllä tuuli kääntyy (And in the night the wind changes), Finnish Artists’ Association summer
Ja yöllä tuuli kääntyy (And in the night the wind changes), Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki
festival

VIDEO FESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS
2021 International Short Film Festival Oberhausen
Tampere Film Festival
2018 Nordic DeLights Festival, London
2006 View 2006, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Helsinki
Vera Filmfestival, Mariehamn, Åland
2002 Club Night, Galleri Leena Kuumola, Helsinki
2000 Neige sur neige, Quebec
1999 Nuit Blanche, Nordic Video Tour including: Montevideo, Amsterdam Moderna Museet, Stockholm Uppsala Konstmuseum
Salon 3, London
Kunsthalle Basel
Soros Center, Zagreb
Modena Galerie, Ljubljana
Soros Center, Almaty, KazakhstanSoros Center, Kiev
Museum Ludvig, Budapest
1998 Soros Center, Bratislava
Soros Center, Chsnau, Moldovia
VideoKapuum, Galleria Titanik Turku
Nuit Blanche, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris 1997 AV-Biennale, Lahti
MuuMedia Festival, Helsinki

OTHER ARTISTIC ACTIVITIES
2012– Checkpoint Helsinki, organizing and planning the events
2009 Art Edition, Stenströms Nordic art shirt project
1998 Live installation project, Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki and Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki 1994 Three short films (Group Hanna Pajala, Aku Louhimies, V-P Rannikko), screened at the TV1Gabriel-bakkanaali
1993 Video set design together with Marika Orenius for dance performance Aliisa, enkelintekijä (Aliisa, the angel maker) by Jussi Nousiainen, Helsinki
1991 Lokakuu (November) project, performance project by Zodiak and Venus Theatre, Helsinki
Purkusaneeraus (Demolition Redevelopment), performance, Night of the Arts, Helsinki 1988–89 Actor and set designer in the Oulu Student Theatre

WORKS IN COLLECTIONS
Vantaa Art Museum
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma
HAM Helsinki Art Museum
Amos Anderson Art Museum
Arabia Museum
Eskilstuna Art Museum
Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation
Fine Arts Association of Finland
Saastamoinen Foundation, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art
SOK
Tikkurila
Pohjola Group Plc, Finland
Private collections in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands

PUBLIC WORKS
2022 Phoenix, Koivutori, Vantaa
Welcome, Koivutori, Vantaa
Vahdit, Björkenheim bridge, Seinäjoki
Kirjoverkkoperhonen, Rykmenttipuisto, Tuusula
2020 Flux, City of Espoo
Sparrow Talk, City of Vantaa
2018 Feather and Stars, City of Vantaa
2015 Mycelium, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki 2012 Locals, Leinelä, Vantaa
2011 Sleepers, Rajakylä Library, Oulu
2007- Principal plan of public art in new suburb of Leinelä, Vantaa 2005 Aaumu, Torpparinmäki, Helsinki
2000 Approx. 6 billion kilometres, Mellunmäki Primary School, Helsinki

AWARDS AND COMPETITIONS
2016 Ådal art competition, shared 2nd prize
2015 Finnish State Prize for Visual Arts
2013 National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki public sculpture competition (Finnish State Art Commission), 1st place
2008 Arvo Ylppö’s memorial competition, 2nd prize
2006 Stina Krooks Foundation Award William Thuring Award
2003 Fine Arts Association of Finland Ducat Prize
2003 University of Jyväskylä, Ylistönrinne sculpture competition (Committee for the Purchase of Works for the State Art Collection), 2nd place, honorary mention
Uutela district invited competition (City of Helsinki), 3rd place 2002 Raimo Utriainen Foundation Award

GRANTS
2018 Grant for production costs, AVEK
2017 5-year artist grant, Arts Promotion Centre Finland
2015 Project grant, Oscar Öflund foundation
2014 Finnish Cultural Foundation, 3-year grant
2013 AVEK, the Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture 2008 5-year government grant
2006 Finnish Cultural Foundation, 3-year grant
2004 1-year government grant
2003 The Arts Council of Finland
Alfred Kordelin Foundation
City of Helsinki, project grant
Ministry of Education grant for the public use of works of art
2002 Fine Arts Association of Finland
Finnish Cultural Foundation, Uusimaa Fund
2001 VISEK Centre for the Promotion of Visual Art 2000 1-year government grant
1999 The Arts Council of Finland
Alfred Kordelin Foundation
1998 Paulo Foundation
Finnish Cultural Foundation, Varsinais-Suomi Fund 1997 The Arts Council of Finland, project grant
City of Helsinki
Ministry of Education grant for the public use of works of art 1996 Arabia Cultural Foundation
1992 Arabia Cultural Foundation

MEMBERSHIPS
Association of Finnish Sculptors
Muu ry (member of exhibition team 2001–2003)
AV-arkki
Forum Box co-operative
Kuvasto ry
Checkpoint Helsinki
Nuoren Voiman Liitto

STUDY TRIPS AND ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE STAYS
2017 Finnish Culture Institute in New York
2015 Cité, Paris
Finnish Artists’ Association, Marbella
2013 Sfakiotes
2012 Källskär
2010 Finnish Culture Institute in New York
2008 Finnish Artists’ Association, Grassina
2005 Skärgårdsgästateljé, Kökar
2004 Finnish Artists’ Association, Marbella
2002 Skärgårdsgästateljé, Kökar
Finnish Artists’ Association, Grassina
2000 NIFCA, Hafanarfjördur
1997 Centre Arc, Rufisque, Senegal