Jukka Rusanen

Photo: Veikko Kähkönen

Jukka Rusanen’s works often reference to art history and tradition. This, however, might only be seen in a certain colour, materia, a shape or a graphic quality. Rusanen works with several media at once, aiming for the same target through the different processes. His paintings and other works vividly capture physicality, movement and three-dimensionality. Sometimes he incorporates spatial elements into his exhibitions, tactility and materiality are prominent elements in the artist’s work For Rusanen, the chosen media does not define the work – the artwork is actualized in the combination of idea and execution. Rusanen has collaborated with performance artists and musicians.

Jukka Rusanen (b. 1980, Jyväskylä) received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Turku School of Fine Arts in 2005 and his Master of Fine Arts from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2007. Rusanen's previous solo show at Helsinki Contemporary, Setting, was seen in 2017. His works are included in several public collections, such as the ones of the Finnish State Art Collection, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and the Wihuri Foundation. In 2017 Rusanen received a five-year working grant from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

Rusanen has exhibited in solo exhibitions in Finland and abroad, eg. at Lachenmann Art in Konstanz, Germany and Galleria Becker in Jyväskylä, Finland, and in group exhibitions at Stadtgalerie Kiel, Germany, 2018, at Hyvinkää Art Museum, Finland, 2017 and at Codex, Berlin, 2018, among others.