Rauha Mäkilä
Photo: Juliana Harkki
Rauha Mäkilä is known for her colourful paintings depicting everyday events that are inspired by her own life and family. In recent years, Mäkilä has also reflected on her own status and identity as an artist. Her works are about being human, being an artist and being together. Mäkilä draws the themes of her works from her own experiences and life, showing how the immediate and the everyday are valuable things, worthy of painting.
In her works, family members, loved ones, pets, art objects and household objects form surprising spatial compositions with each other. The moments, or situations, in the works resemble compositions captured on camera that are later depicted on canvas in the artist's studio. Mäkilä carefully plans her paintings in advance but also leaves room for surprises and chance - the painting has room to become an event in its own way, through the means of painting. Mäkilä mainly uses colour-saturated oil colours with occasional use of more earthy oil tones.
Rauha Mäkilä (b. 1980) is a Helsinki-based visual artist who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2007. Mäkilä has also studied at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. Mäkilä's works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Finland and internationally, including the Munch Gallery in New York, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, EMMA - Espoo Museum of Modern Art in Espoo, Finland, the Landskrona Museum in Sweden, Galleri Thomassen in Gothenburg, Sweden, CHART art fair in Copenhagen, Galleria Susanne Pettersson in Stockholm and Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum in Turku, Finland. Her works are included in several important art collections, including those of the City of Gothenburg, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Saastamoinen Foundation, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and the Niemistö Art Collection. In 2023, Mäkilä had solo exhibitions at TARA Helsinki Contemporaries and MOMO Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum in Turku. In 2015, Mäkilä was the chair of the jury for the Young Artists exhibition at Helsinki Art Hall.
Exhibitions
1.12.-22.12.2023
18.5.-2.7.2023
9.9.-9.10.2022
7.7.-31.7.2021
28.8.-30.8.2020
7.8.-30.8.2020
9.3.-31.3.2018
9.12.-17.12.2017
3.6.-3.7.2016
4.9.-27.9.2015
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Apr 2025
25
Feb 2025
Curated Selection: Playtime | Viewing room now online on Artsy
Curated Selection: Playtime is part of a series of thematically curated online viewing rooms showcasing Helsinki Contemporary’s artists. Curated Selection: Playtime presents a collection of works curated around the theme of play. Artists...
20
Apr 2023
Rauha Mäkilä’s solo show MOMO opens to the public at Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum on April 21
Rauha Mäkilä’s solo show MOMO opens to the public at Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum tomorrow, on April 21. The exhibition presents a broad selection of the artist’s oeuvre from 2013–2023. The paintings on view at the...
19
Aug 2021
07
Jun 2020
18
Nov 2019
14
Sep 2017
Hannaleena Heiska & Rauha Mäkilä at Galleri Thomassen in Gothenburg
Hannaleena Heiska: Untitled, 2017, oil on mdf, 130 x 120 cmRauha Mäkilä: April, 2017, acrylic, oil and spray paint on canvas, 160 x 120 cmHannaleena Heiska and Rauha Mäkilä participate in a joint exhibition with Camilla Vuorenmaa...
20
Jun 2017
24
May 2017
Heiska, Korkeila, Mäkilä, Rekula, Räisänen and Wuorila-Stenberg in Kunsthalle Helsinki's summer exhibition
Rauha Mäkilä: Gerli (2013). Photo credit: Ville LöppönenThe summer exhibition Me: Self-Portraits Through Time at Kunsthalle Helsinki opens shows more than 160 self-portraits from the end of the 19th century until present day....
16
Mar 2017
Group exhibition with six Finnish artists in Landskrona museum
Heidi Lampenius, Supernatural, 2016, acrylic and ink on canvas, 190 x 170 cm. Photo: Jussi Tiainen.Landskrona Museum in Sweden presents the first exhibition that showcases six Finnish contemporary art. Sensual Knowledge exhibits works by Hannaleena...
04
Jan 2017
18
Jun 2016
Rauha Mäkilä, Miikka Vaskola and Henry Wuorila-Stenberg invited to design new covers for Finnish literary classics
In 2017 WSOY will be publishing a limited edition series of 12 Finnish literary classics with new covers. Each book cover will be recreated by a Finnish contemporary artist, and an exhibition displaying the original artworks will be held at Helsinki...
19
Feb 2016
13
Jan 2016
23
Nov 2015
21
Oct 2015
27
Sep 2015
Rauha Mäkilä in group exhibition at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri presents recent paintings by artists who were born in or who currently live and work in Finland in the group exhibition Dark Days, Bright Nights: Contemporary Paintings from Finland. This...
29
May 2015
Andersson, Korkeila, Mäkilä, Retulainen and Räisänen in Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection Exhibition
The second phase of the new Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection Exhibition Touch opens today at EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art. This phase called Humanity, Identity and body, presents different tools visual artists use for dealing with...
19
Mar 2015
02
Sep 2012
17
Oct 2012
22
Mar 2013
10
Jun 2013
02
Sep 2013
25
Mar 2014
30
Apr 2014
08
Dec 2014
Hannaleena Heiska and Rauha Mäkilä in publication Taiteilijan elämänkulku
Hannaleena Heiska and Rauha Mäkilä are included in the publication Taiteilijan elämänkulku (The artist’s life course) by researchers Mikko Piispa and Mikko Salasuo. The publication is based on interviews with 29 artists from...
10
Jun 2023
17
May 2023
06
Aug 2020
24
Mar 2018
08
Mar 2018
12
Sep 2017
02
Jun 2016
20
Sep 2015
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