18.5.–1.9.2024 | MARI RANTANEN: TUNNE VÄRINÄ
Mari Rantanen (b. 1956, Espoo) is a visual artist, painter and professor of fine arts who lives and works in Stockholm. Rantanen’s work is exhibited on this scale in Finland for the first time in over ten years. The exhibition in Salo presents the artist’s latest works, paintings and prints from recent years.
Rantanen is known for her large-scale paintings and public artworks, whose brilliance of colours and repetition of geometric shapes combine baroque opulence with mathematical precision. The stories behind Rantanen’s works take us on an adventure both around the world and deep into the artist’s own mental landscape. In her works, she engages in constant dialogue with art history, contemporary art and popular culture. The works on display at Salo Art Museum this summer have been created in an ever-accelerating world where one revolutionary event after another has shaken our confidence in the future. The works are characterised by their delicious palette of colours, unique to Rantanen, which this summer will glow at full force in the exhibition halls of Roundhouse.
Mari Rantanen rose to the forefront of Finnish artists in the 1980s with the strong emergence of female artists. She began her art studies at the age of 19 at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. After her studies in Finland, Rantanen was the first artist to be awarded an ASLA-Fulbright scholarship, which enabled her to leave for the United States. In New York, Rantanen continued her studies at the Pratt Institute, launching a successful international career. In 1996, she was appointed professor of fine arts at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts for a 10-year term, after which she has been working as a freelance artist. Helsinki, Tammela, New York and Stockholm have all been important bases for the international artist – and, in summer 2024, Salo will be too.
18.5.–1.9.2024 | Galleri Sidetrack: EEVI RUTANEN – KODINHENGETÄR / HOMEMAKER