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At this year's CHART, Helsinki Contemporary presents works from Emma Ainala, Ville Andersson, Anna Retulainen and Aki Turunen. While the four Finnish artists’ styles vary from minimalism and intimate still lifes to surrealist visions, they all share an interest in how painting and drawing work as ways of worldbuilding and narrativizing life.

You can find us At CHART art fair at booth number 15 in Charlottemborg.

In addition to the art fair, Swedish sculptor Michael Johansson (SE) will take part in the off-site exhibition CHART in Tivoli at the iconic Tivoli amusement park.

Emma Ainala (FI)

Emma Ainala (b. 1989) is known for her detailed paintings that explore feminine mythologies and physical and digital spaces. The gaze, being looked at, and objectification are recurring themes in her oeuvre. Ainala’s dreamlike paintings are very much connected to the fast-paced online and offline phenomena of today, but, at the same time, reference art and cultural history.

Emma Ainala graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2013. She took part in the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition 2018. In Finland, she’s had several solo museum shows, and her work has been widely exhibited in Europe, recently in group shows HYBRIDEN in Belgium and Magic Mirror in Greece. 

Ville Andersson (FI) 

Ville Andersson (b. 1986) is a versatile artist both in his use of different media and styles. He often deals with the concept of emptiness as a part of visual expression and explores the possibilities of silence and quietude. Characteristics Andersson’s aesthetic are allusiveness, minimalism, precision and understatement. At CHART, Andersson presents works from his ongoing series of meticulous ink and pencil drawings that play on ephemeral photographic memories and glitches.

Ville Andersson studied at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. He received Finland’s Young Artist of the Year Award 2015. He’s exhibited widely in Finland and abroad at, e.g., EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, the National Art Center Tokyo, Vitraria Glass +A Museum Venice and FOMU Fotomuseum in Antwerp.

Anna Retulainen (FI)

Anna Retulainen’s (b. 1969) paintings consist of details drawn from everyday life. The subjects of her works are platforms for the application of paint; for finding balance between movement, layers of paint and colours. The themes of her works vary from interiors and views of her beloved garden to more intimate drawings of loved ones. For her, drawing and painting is a way of putting the world in its place.

Anna Retulainen is one of the leading figures in Finnish contemporary painting. She’s been exhibiting since 1995. She’s been nominated twice for the Carnegie Art Award, most recently in 2014. Her work is represented in most major public collections in Finland and in countless private collections. 

Aki Turunen (FI)

In Aki Turunen’s (b. 1983) paintings, subliminal images and personal narratives collide with visuals emerging from folklore, history and art history. In his latest works, Turunen has drawn inspiration from Marcel Proust’s novel In Search of Lost Time (1913-1927) and its volume “Sodom and Gomorrah” where homosexual desire is discussed using symbols such as birds of paradise, dwarf honeybees and by describing the lengths and sizes of the different reproductive organs of flowers.

Aki Turunen graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2011. He has also studied painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. His works have been seen e.g. at Martin Asbæk Gallery and at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition in Copenhagen and at SCHWARZ Contemporary in Berlin.

Michael Johansson at CHART in Tivoli

For CHART in Tivoli, Michael Johansson will create new site-specific installations that continue his ongoing sculptural series of Real Life Tetris.

Michael Johansson (b. 1975, Trollhättan, Sweden) is known for his distinctive style of sculpture and installation, which combines found objects and everyday items to create new forms, structures and geometric patterns.

In his works, Johansson deals with ordinary objects we all recognize, but in a way far from the ordinary. Objects are morphed into precisely stacked shapes, connected to a certain place, where their original purpose are transformed into catalysts of new meanings. Found objects within the same colour range are reconstructed into a homogeneous image of a fictional life. The newfound rigid order separates the objects from their usage, and invites us to a shared space where the familiar meets the unfamiliar. 

About Chart in Tivoli

CHART in Tivoli, the much-celebrated public sculpture exhibition, is returning to the iconic grounds of Tivoli Gardens this summer.

Opening on Thursday 29 August, CHART in Tivoli 2024 will remain on-view from 29 August – 22 September, when Tivoli closes for the season.