Kari Huhtamo’s Grand Exhibition at the
Tretyakov Gallery
21.8.2009
Huhtamo Variatio Arctica Sculptura,
Kari Huhtamo’s grand exhibition opens at the Tretyakov Gallery in
Moscow on 3 September. Works of art by Kari Huhtamo are on exhibit
in all of the three Tretyakov Gallery art museum buildings.
There are four meters-high sculptures in front of the main entrance
of the Old Tretyakov Gallery building. Their material is polished
steel, which, with Huhtamo’s form of expression, captures an illusion
of lightness and spirituality.
Nearly forty of Huhtamo’s steel sculptures, from 1980 on, are on
display in the exhibition. The most recent sculptures were finished
this year. The main exhibition is in the new part of the Tretyakov
Gallery, in the ”Tolmatchevsky” museum building. There are 22 sculptures
as well as Huhtamo’s drawings and graphics on display in the building.
The new Tretyakov Gallery, the Central House of Artists house, displays
12 of Huhtamo’s sculptures.
Finland’s President Tarja Halonen
is the Exhibition Patron.
Huhtamo - the First Finnish Tretyakov Gallery Exhibition Artist
Ever
Lidia Iovleva, First Deputy Director of the Tretyakov
Gallery, says that, although art-related contacts with Finland have
always been active, Kari Huhtamo is the very first Finnish artist
ever to have his own exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery. The opening
of the Variatio Arctica Sculptura exhibition is on Thursday, 3 September.
Lidia Iovleva opens the exhibition and Matti Anttonen,
Ambassador of Finland to Russian Federation, delivers a speech.
The exhibition is on display at the Gallery until 4 October.
Tretyakov – Among World’s Best Art Museums
The Tretyakov Gallery is one of the biggest art museums in Europe
and among the most notable art museums in the world. The Gallery
houses 130,000 works of art, with its collection ranging from icons
dating back to the 12th century to contemporary art. Each year,
over six million art lovers visit the Gallery.
The history of the Tretyakov Gallery started in 1856 when a wealthy
businessman Pavel Tretyakov acquired his first painting, Skirmish
with Finnish Smugglers. The old part of the Tretyakov Gallery was
built in 1902 - 1904.
A Russian/English Book on Huhtamo
Huhtamo Variatio Arctica Sculptura,
a bilingual (Russian-English) book will be published at the beginning
of September. At the end of September, a Finnish/English version
will also be published. The book displays over one hundred photographs,
most of them taken by Jussi Tiainen. All exhibition
sculptures are displayed in the book. It also includes Huhtamo’s
works of art from the 1970s as well as all of his significant public
works of art.
Timo Valjakka’s text presents Huhtamo the Artist,
his artistic character, and his works of art.
– Although Huhtamo uses industrial materials and forms with millimetre
precision, for the viewer, Huhtamo’s sculptures instantly create
an image of mercurial construction art where the main principles
are repetition, symmetry, and functionality, Valjakka describes
Huhtamo’s art.
Lidia Iovleva, First Deputy Director of the Tretyakov Gallery, wrote
the foreword to the book, Kari Piippo did the layout
for the book, and Parvs Publishing publishes it.
Kari Huhtamo was born in 1943 in Rovaniemi and lives presently in
Helsinki. In Finland, his public sculptures are on exhibit in several
cities and his works of art are in all notable art museum and public
collections.
Rautaruukki Oyj is the main sponsor of the Huhtamo Variato Arctica
Sculptura exhibition. The exhibition is also sponsored by the Finnish
Cultural Foundation, the State Visual Arts Committee, the Ministry
of Education, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sanoma Magazines,
Fintemet, and Frame.
Tuula Isoniemi, M.A.
PR Agent
Helsinki Book Fair, Programme Director
The Finnish Book Arts Committee, Chairman
Uudenmaankatu 26 A 2 a
00120 Helsinki, Finland tel.
+358-(0)500 841937 tuula.isoniemi@welho.com
