Finlayson Art Area – Colors and Art Experiences in the Finlayson Area since 2015

Finlayson Art Area (FAA) is one of Finland’s largest visual art events, and in summer 2025 it will be held for the 11th time. The event takes place from June 13 to August 24, 2025. So far, FAA has showcased works by 111 artists. FAA is organized by the Printmaking Studio Himmelblau and made possible by Varma, the pension insurance company managing the properties in the Finlayson area. The FAA’s event director and curator is Pertti Ketonen, CEO of Himmelblau and gallery owner. The art exhibitions are located in over ten different indoor and outdoor venues. Admission to all art locations and side events is free.

The goal of Finlayson Art Area is to create high-quality exhibitions and present diverse professional art in various forms, enable low-threshold art experiences, and foster a sense of community. In addition to the exhibitions, a popular visitor attraction is the street painting area that the public has also been able to paint.

Young artists play an important role in FAA’s story: this summer, numerous art students from TAMK’s Fine Arts program, SAMK’s Kankaanpää Art School, Ikaalinen’s Ikata, and the Turku Academy of Fine Arts will be working at the event.

FAA Artists Summer 2025:

• EGS – Installations and art prints. Location: Printmaking Studio Himmelblau (Finlaysoninkuja 9, floor PB) and the space next to Siperia Square (Siperia center).
  
  
• Jaakko Heikkilä – Photographic art. Location: Kutomosali 3 (Finlaysoninkuja 9, floor 3B, 3rd hall) and Finnpark Plevna parking hall’s outer wall and staircase (Itäinenkatu).
  
  
• Kerttu Horila – Sculptures, paintings, and drawings. Location: Kutomosali 1 (Finlaysoninkuja 9, floor 3B, 1st hall).
  
  
• Helinä Hukkataival – Video works, curated by Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo. Location: Finlayson Church (Puuvillatehtaankatu 2) and Minicinema at Siperia center’s corridor.
  
  
• Helinä Hukkataival & Ida Sofia Fleming – Sound installation. Location: Rautarappu, iron staircase in the Old Factory (Väinö Linna Square 15).
  
  
• Kimmo Kaivanto – Art graphics and paintings, curated by Veikko Halmetoja. Location: Terde (Väinö Linna Square 13).
  
  
• Kirsi Neuvonen – Art prints and installations. Location: Gallery Himmelblau (Finlaysoninkuja 9, floor 2B).
  
  
• Timo Vuorikoski – 80th anniversary exhibition, curated by Veikko Halmetoja. Location: Vooninki (Väinö Linna Square 13) and Finnkino Plevna’s lobby (Itäinenkatu 4).
  
  
• Collection Kakkonen – Contemporary glass art and ceramics, including Jasmin Anoschkin, EGS, Alma Jantunen, Janne Rahunen, Markku Salo. Location: Kutomosali 2 (Finlaysoninkuja 9, floor 2B, 2nd hall).
  
  

Street Painting Area

• Väinö Linna Square and Päämääränkuja: Community word art street painting Cloud Garden of Dreams by Katja Villemonteix. Realized by FAA’s street painting team and the public.
  
  
• Finlaysoninkuja, Old Factory “backyard”: Summer Dresses, inspired by Kirsi Neuvonen’s Costume series, by Katja Villemonteix. Realized by FAA’s street painting team.
  
  
• End of Finlaysoninkuja: Aalto (Wave), Eine Lepistö, 1977, Finlayson Ltd. Realized by FAA’s street painting team and the public.
  
  

Finlayson Art Area
June 13 – August 24, 2025

Main Entrances:
Väinö Linna Square 13
Finlaysoninkuja 9 (elevators to floors)

Opening hours:
Wed–Fri 11 am – 6 pm, Sat–Sun 12 am – 6 pm
Closed: Mon, Tue, and Midsummer, June 20–24.

Finlayson Art Area Street Paintings

Since summer 2017, vibrant street paintings have been an important part of the Finlayson Art Area. The idea originated at the architectural office Petri Pussinen Oy on the 6th floor of the Old Factory, where, while looking out the window, they wondered if the streets could be colorful instead of grey asphalt. FAA’s event director Pertti Ketonen embraced the idea, and ever since, a street painting area has been created in the Finlayson district every summer. This summer, the street painting area features three themes: Cloud Garden of Dreams, Summer Dresses, and Aalto. The paintings surround the Old Factory.

Our partners include Teknos and Maalikauppa Väritupa Oy, located on Keskuojankatu. Warm thanks for making street art possible!

Summer 2025 Themes:

At Väinö Linna Square and Päämääränkuja, a communal street painting titled Cloud Garden of Dreams has been created. Designed by FAA project manager Katja Villemonteix, it was executed by FAA’s street painting team and the public. The color scheme of this mural moves from pink and violet to blue — with some grey rain clouds included, as life itself entails. Villemonteix’s idea was to create a communal word art piece where visitors can write their own dreams onto chosen clouds and paint a colorful border around their cloud. These clouds have been created in open street painting workshops.

“Dreams and hopes are important in this time, whether big or small. Perhaps dreams begin to come true when they are made visible on the street.”

On Finlaysoninkuja, the Old Factory’s “backyard” is adorned with the Summer Dresses street painting, featuring flowers, berries, and butterflies. This mural is based on Kirsi Neuvonen’s Costume series. The beloved printmaker’s extensive exhibition is on display at Gallery Himmelblau (Finlaysoninkuja 9, floor 2B), where visitors can admire Neuvonen’s original Costume works. The Summer Dresses street painting was designed by Katja Villemonteix and executed by FAA’s street painting team.

At the end of Finlaysoninkuja, the blue-and-white Aalto (Wave) mural can be found. It was designed for Finlayson Ltd by Eine Lepistö in 1977. Aalto is a beloved Finnish design, known from tableware to bedding. The mural flows in waves toward the old South Turbine (built in 1880), which once stood above a large 19th-century water wheel. The factory at that time still operated on hydropower, with water channeled through a canal under the Old Factory to the wheel.

The Aalto mural was created by FAA’s street painting team and the public. During Museums Night on May 17, many visitors joined in painting the street — children, youth, and adults alike. Thanks to all the dedicated painters!

ARTISTS

EGS

This summer, Finlayson Art Area presents the work of EGS in three different exhibition venues. At the Himmelblau Printmaking Studio, EGS has created a ceiling-hung installation using traditional letterpress techniques: the patterns on the paper are printed with wooden movable type. The stylized letters evoke the idea of a universal language. The surrounding wall display features both earlier and more recent prints by the artist. EGS has been working with Himmelblau since 2017, and the new installation was also produced there.

A versatile observer of the art world, EGS is particularly interested in contemporary art that examines society and popular culture. His work frequently features the stylized letters E, G, and S, as well as abstracted map imagery. In recent years, he has expanded his visual language from graffiti to include printmaking, glass sculptures, and installations. At Finlayson Art Area, his glass works are exhibited in the Collection Kakkonen show, and a playable miniature golf installation is situated at the edge of Siperia Square.

Exclusive Gentrification Simulator 1.0 (2024), located in the Siperia center, is both an artwork and a playable mini-golf course. Balls and clubs can be borrowed from the front desk of The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas. First shown in EGS’s solo exhibition at the Didrichsen Art Museum in 2023, the piece received wide acclaim. While the artist emphasizes the importance of playfulness in art, he also uses this work to reflect on how far art institutions should go in entertaining audiences and meeting the demand for social media -friendly content.

EGS (b. 1974, Helsinki) is Finland’s most internationally recognized graffiti artist, with work exhibited in over 50 countries. In addition to solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums, he has completed several public commissions. He holds a BA in Graphic Design from the University of the Arts London.

EGS’s works at Finlayson Art Area:

• Art prints and installation, Himmelblau Printmaking Studio
  Entrance: Finlaysoninkuja 9, floor PB
• Exclusive Gentrification Simulator 1.0, the space located on the edge of Siperia Square (passage to The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas).
• Glass works, Kutomosali 2, Collection Kakkonen exhibition
  Entrance: Finlaysoninkuja 9, floor 3B, second hall

Jaakko Heikkilä: Human Encounters

”Soft light from the window caresses Katariina’s face in Parkalompolo, northern Sweden, in 1995. I look through the viewfinder at this fragile, gentle woman. As my index finger reaches for the shutter, Katariina says in a quiet, tender voice:
 ‘I was born in the forest, and I became a human being.’

In the early 1990s, I began documenting the unique culture of the Tornio Valley, the northern border region between Finland and Sweden. Since then, the frontier-like character of my home region has inspired new photographic projects around the world.

Almost by chance, I have been drawn to minority peoples and communities. Over the past thirty years, I have met people from diverse cultures in their homes and communities — in Russia, Armenia, Havana, Serbia, Harlem and Brighton Beach in New York, Venice, Los Angeles, and Brazil. Often, our communication has been wordless.

Echoing Katariina’s words — and with a nod to the Swedish author Torgny Lindgren, whom I admire — I feel I have stumbled upon these people as if they were searching for water. I photograph them in order to shape a vision of the human being, of humanity and light. I do not illustrate cultures; I portray the human presence within them.”

Jaakko Heikkilä (b. 1956, Kemi, Finland) graduated as a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Oulu in 1983 and worked as a researcher at the Academy of Finland until the end of 1989. Since 1990, he has worked as a full-time photographic artist. Heikkilä has held solo and group exhibitions across Europe, the United States, South America, and at the Venice Biennale in 2005.

He received the Barents Cultural Grant in 2017 and the Finnish State Prize for Photographic Art in 2007. In 2002, he won the international art competition ”Time and Nature” in Hanau, Germany. He was awarded the Lapland Art Prize in 1993.

Jaakko Heikkilä’s works at Finlayson Art Area:

• Photography exhibition, Kutomosali 3, Finlaysoninkuja 9, floor 3B, 3rd hall
• Photographic banner, exterior wall of Finnpark Plevna, Itäinenkatu
• Photography exhibition, stairwell of Finnpark Plevna, Itäinenkatu,
  right side of the movie theatre entrance

Kerttu Horila

Kerttu Horila is especially known for her large ceramic sculptures depicting human figures. Her work also includes installations, paintings, and drawings. At this summer’s Finlayson Art Area, a diverse selection of works from throughout her career is on display — including several brand-new pieces. The exhibition is divided into three thematic sections: The World of Theatre, Fairy Tales Where Not Everything Goes According to the Script, and Humanlike Animals and Animal-like Humans.

Horila studied ceramics at the University of Art and Design Helsinki and, upon graduating, turned her focus to sculptural work in clay. Throughout her career, she has worked exclusively with clay, firing her sculptures into ceramic — a path shared by many ceramic sculptors of her generation. A strong foundation in material-based training underpins her practice. Early on, ceramic sculptures were met with skepticism, some even requested that she make her works in a “real” material. Her education emphasized mastery of the medium. “The artist is the boss and the material the servant; the form must be clear. So I suppose I’m quite an old-fashioned ceramic sculptor.” Horila reflects.

Warm humour and insight into everyday life are ever-present in her work. The experiences and perspectives of women in particular have long been central themes in her art. Animals — a lifelong source of affection for Horila — also feature prominently in this exhibition. Every figure in her work is treated with affection and empathy. The viewer can easily relate to the world she creates — and even become part of it. Empty chairs seem to invite you to sit down and enter the scene. The artist’s newest sculptures portray elderly fairy-tale characters. Horila continues their stories through charcoal drawings and texts. Though laced with humour, these tales also speak to the strength and wisdom of old age and a life well lived.

Kerttu Horila lives and works in the historic Old Rauma. Her newest works were completed earlier this spring. “This exhibition doesn’t mark the end of my artmaking. I will keep working as long as I can make it to my studio.”

Kerttu Horila (b. 1946, Iisalmi) studied art in Helsinki at the School of Art and Design (1968–72), the School of Applied Arts (1965–68), and the Free Art School (1965). She has created numerous public artworks, including Three Graces in the Rauma canal and Maire in the city of Pori. Her works are included in several major collections, such as those of the Finnish State, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Oulu Art Museum, Lönnström Art Museum, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, and Rauma Art Museum.

Helinä Hukkataival

Finlayson Art Area presents seven video works by performance artist Helinä Hukkataival, created between 2012 and 2021.

In the video works shown at Finlayson Church, Hukkataival is seen cutting rag rugs in a Finnish forest and at a Roman marketplace. These works explore the ideal of endless busyness. According to a Biblical legend, Martha was so busy with household chores that she could not sit and talk with Jesus. Saint Birgitta’s teachings suggest this is how it should be: “First, you must be Martha.”

At Finlayson Art Area’s Minicinema, the video works expand on themes of performance to include proper behavior, body control, and appearance. Hukkataival’s works balance embarrassment, comedy, and defiance as the artist flashes a Barbie doll, spills coffee in her lap, or cuts men’s shirts. The most riotous moment comes in Hukkataival’s recorded cancan dance performed by the “Kabareeleidit”.

Hukkataival’s performances and camera-based works often shed light on the ideal of lifelong toil deeply rooted in women. Yet the works also capture beautiful and humorous views. Her performances are minimalist pieces, like ritual dances involving the artist, her works, various time layers, city dwellers, and the audience. The performances can also be participatory events.

All seven video works at Finlayson Art Area prominently feature fabrics, especially white cotton, making the series a dedication to all the girls of the cotton factory.

Helinä Hukkataival’s video works at Finlayson Art Area are curated by Tampere-based producer and art critic Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo. The Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Pirkanmaa Arts Council have supported the collaboration between Hukkataival and Penttinen-Lampisuo.

Born in 1941, Helinä Hukkataival graduated as an art teacher in 1966 and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2017. She began exhibiting alongside her teaching career in 1969. Since 1990, she has focused on performance art and later expanded her practice to include photography, video art, and installations. Hukkataival received the Finnish State Prize for Visual Arts in 2004. She has held solo and group exhibitions, performances, live performance and video installations, as well as photography projects both in Finland and internationally.

Helinä Hukkataival’s works at Finlayson Art Area:

• Video works at Finlayson Church, Puuvillatehtaankatu 2. Note opening hours: Mon–Fri and Sun 11 am – 6 pm. Sat closed due to church services.
  
  
• Video works at FAA’s Minicinema, corridor of the Siperia center.
  
  
• Listening Stairs, a sound installation in collaboration with Ida Sofia Fleming. Location: Rautarappu, iron staircase, access from Väinö Linna Square 15 or via the floors.

Helinä Hukkataival & Ida Sofia Fleming: Listening Stairs

The 150-year-old Rautarappu, iron staircase, at the Old Finlayson Factory plays a central role in the performance and sound artwork Listening Stairs by Helinä Hukkataival and Ida Sofia Fleming. The key concept behind the work is time, both the age of the protected Old Factory building and its iron staircase, and the 50-year age difference between the collaborating artists.

In Hukkataival’s performance, time is compared to knitting socks blindly. Time neither watches nor sees, but listens and hears. According to our perception, time moves forward and leaves traces.

For Ida Sofia Fleming, the starting point for the sound piece is the sounds of the space itself and its various elements, such as the staircase and piping. In other words, how Rautarappu sounds and “breathes.” One idea is how this space can be humanized. “In the installation, the stairs are active participants.” Fleming explains. She brings the harmonium as an external instrument to the performance.

Born in 1990, Ida Sofia Fleming works diversely with sculpture, performance art, acting, music, and movement. She aims to renew perspectives on how an artist can work interdisciplinarily in contemporary society by gathering essential elements from various art fields and weaving them together. Key materials for Fleming include large rusted metal sheets and silk fabric, their resonating sounds, and performances involving the human voice. Her artistic process unfolds as a dialogue with nature. Central to her work is how physicality and natural processes with materials become part of the overall artwork for the viewer.

Recent exhibitions by Fleming include Vantaa Art Museum Arts (2024), Seinäjoki Art Hall (2023), and this summer at Rauma Art Museum. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki (2020) and graduated as a visual artist from Tampere University of Applied Sciences (2017). Fleming was a visiting student at the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki for two years. She studied acting at Lahti Folk High School (graduated 2014) and studied piano and singing for 11 years at Tampere Conservatory.

Born in 1941, Helinä Hukkataival graduated as an art teacher in 1966 and completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2017. She began exhibiting alongside her teaching career in 1969. Since 1990, she has focused on performance art and later expanded her practice to include photography, video art, and installations. Hukkataival received the Finnish State Prize for Visual Arts in 2004. She has held solo and group exhibitions, performances, live performance and video installations, as well as photography projects both in Finland and abroad.

Hukkataival performs both live and on camera. Her works often highlight the ideal of lifelong toil deeply rooted in women, yet they also capture beautiful and humorous moments. Her performances are minimalist works, like ritual dances, involving the artist, her works, different time layers, city dwellers, and the audience. The performances can also be participatory events. Besides the Finlayson Art Area, Hukkataival’s art can be experienced this summer at the Vihti Summer Expo in Gallery Pictor.

Kimmo Kaivanto

Kimmo Kaivanto was one of the most significant Finnish visual artists of his generation. He began his artistic career in the 1950s and held his first solo exhibition in Helsinki in 1959. Born and raised in Tampere, Kaivanto grew up near the lake landscape of Näsijärvi and, from the 1960s onward, spent his summers at his cottage on Arkkusaari island in Lake Tarjannevesi. Nature became a central theme and source of inspiration in his art. Influenced by art informel, he began distilling the landscape into abstract and expressive forms, a romantic surrender to the power of nature. Over time, Kaivanto helped renew the Finnish landscape painting tradition: earthy tones gave way to symbolic shades of blue.

Kaivanto was among the first Finnish artists to address ecological issues overtly and critically. In the 1960s, his art took on a more conceptual and political dimension. Alongside paintings, he worked in drawing, serigraphy, sculpture, and collage. His works challenged totalitarian power, militarism, and stereotypical masculinity — often contrasting them with feminine and organic forces. The pacifist, democratic, and ecological undertones in his work expressed a deep concern for the planet’s wellbeing.

Today, Kimmo Kaivanto’s work feels more relevant than ever. His ability to distill complex global concerns into powerful visual metaphors is remarkable. Alongside his bold and symbolic imagery is a more delicate style, grounded in the movement of the hand and a fine drawing line. These two strands of his work are often united by what has come to be known as Kaivanto Blue — a colour capable of calming both stormy landscapes and anti-war protests.

The Finlayson Art Area exhibition presents a wide-ranging selection of Kaivanto’s paintings and prints. It pays tribute to the artist’s versatility, offering insights into the breadth and evolution of his long and distinguished career.

– Veikko Halmetoja, curator of the exhibition

Kimmo Kaivanto (1932–2012) also created numerous public artworks throughout his career. In Tampere, notable examples include the environmental artwork Sininen suora (Blue Line, 1990) at the Tampere Hall, the portrait of Väinö Linna (1986) at the Metso main library, the 13-part wall painting Tori (The Square, 1976) in the Central Office Building, and the sculpture Maanalainen kaupunki (Underground City, 1964) at the University of Tampere (donated in 1967). Kaivanto represented Finland at the São Paulo Biennale in 1963, the Paris Biennale in 1965, and the Venice Biennale in both 1968 and 1976. He was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal in 1972 and granted the honorary title of Professor in 1995.

Kirsi Neuvonen: Time Gilds Memories

The exhibition’s title work Time Gilds Memories warmly welcomes visitors at Gallery Himmelblau. The piece is made of cast paper clay coated with gold leaf. Kirsi Neuvonen has created a comprehensive installation in the gallery under the theme Dressing Room, which retrospectively explores her long artistic career.

Neuvonen began exploring dress themes as early as 1987. Over the years, the subject has transformed in many ways. The works are printed at the Printmaking Studio Himmelblau. The triptych dresses resemble wardrobes, with their frames hinged as doors. For the Vintage Dress series (2012–2015), Neuvonen made paper cutouts by recycling proof prints created during the printing process. Inspiration for the vintage dresses came from her mother’s dressmaking study materials, which included small-sized patterns. The works also allude to homemade clothes for paper dolls from childhood.

For Neuvonen, dress works are a way to explore nature themes or transform them into practical or aesthetic needs for humans. She mainly searches for botanical motifs from drawn scientific sources. These are usually black-and-white drawings, to which Neuvonen adds color.

Due to health reasons, Kirsi Neuvonen ceased creating new works in metal engraving in spring 2023. She has transitioned to making monotypes with water-soluble colors and combines the technique with pencil drawing. Neuvonen’s works have been printed at the Printmaking Studio Himmelblau since the beginning. Most of the metal engravings in the exhibition are printed at Himmelblau, while her new production focuses on unique monotypes, which she started making in 2016.

The second gallery of Kirsi Neuvonen’s exhibition is divided into two sections. The first features animal-themed works arranged within the silhouette of a forest. Nature is deeply integrated into almost all of Neuvonen’s output. The music accompanying the space’s fantasy world has been composed by the artist’s son, Karri Mikkonen.

“One of my childhood dream professions was to become an illustrator, alongside being a fashion designer and architect. This side of me has been realized through the animal-themed works. I am fascinated by storytelling, and the works are often named as if borrowed from fables.” Neuvonen explains.

The second section continues the dress theme from the first gallery room. The monotypes mainly depict little girls showing off their dresses in various environments specially created by Neuvonen for them. These settings can feel unreal, and the artist often plays with contrasts between small and large to evoke a sense of wonder.

“In the second exhibition hall, my newer works focus on monotypes related to nature and humanity’s relationship with it. The dress theme continues as a human figure appears inside the dress. The ethics of fashion are strongly present in society, and the works can be seen as taking a stance on these values. I continue a family tradition, as my mother was a seamstress.

Clothing and craftsmanship have always been part of my life. Clothes were mostly made for celebrations, and it felt like being a princess in one’s own life. Clothes shaped identity as the child grew into adulthood. What kind of person do I want to be, and what do I communicate with my clothing choices? Time and fashion move in waves throughout life, and christening and wedding dresses are often kept for a lifetime and passed down as heirlooms. From this perspective too, Time Gilds Memories is a fitting title for the exhibition. I wanted to create an intergenerational experience for the whole family or even grandparents with grandchildren.”

Born in 1960 in Keuruu, Kirsi Neuvonen is a graphic and visual artist based in Jyväskylä. She studied at Savonlinna Art High School (1976–1979), Orivesi College (1979–1980), and Lahti Art School (1980–1984). After graduation, Neuvonen began working on her own art at Jyväskylä Printmaking Studio, where she also taught. She is recognized as one of the pioneers of colored metal engraving and has been awarded the State Prize for Visual Arts (1987) and the Finland Prize (1997). Her works are in numerous collections. Neuvonen has received several annual grants and a state artist’s pension. She continues to work actively with new techniques, especially monotype.

The world of dresses also comes alive through the Finlaysoninkuja street paintings. The summer dress theme designed by Katja Villemonteix is inspired by Kirsi Neuvonen’s dress artworks.

Timo Vuorikoski 80th Anniversary Exhibition

Timo Vuorikoski has had a long and multifaceted career as a visual artist, portrait painter, and museum director. While many years have passed, the work of a painter fortunately does not end with retirement. This extensive and diverse exhibition at the Finlayson Art Area is curated by gallerist Veikko Halmetoja.

The 80th Anniversary Exhibition presents Vuorikoski’s paintings, drawings, and prints, with a strong focus on oil painting. He is an artist who consistently explores new themes while also returning to familiar subjects with fresh perspectives and visual approaches. Vuorikoski is known for his commissioned portraits and cityscapes of Tampere, but many of his works also draw from travels. Like a travel writer, he transforms diary notes and sketches into finished works in his studio.

The exhibition features nearly abstract, vibrant paintings from Paris, bold compositions from the Särkänniemi amusement park, delicate studies of light and shadow in Venice, an atmospheric look into the world of circus performers, scenes from train stations and metro tunnels, and characterful portraits. Together, the works provide a comprehensive view of the subjects Vuorikoski has explored throughout his long artistic career.

Vuorikoski’s paintings are often viewed in the context of modernist visual art. There is a formal strength and quiet directness in his work that echoes the 20th century, yet he has always worked within the framework of contemporary art.

As Vuorikoski tells it, he ended up in the museum world by accident. In the summer of 1978, he received a phone call inviting him to become the director of the newly established Sara Hildén Art Museum, dedicated to modern and contemporary art. He accepted the offer and remained in the position until spring 2006. Vuorikoski formed a close friendship with Sara Hildén (1905–1993), who understood that he was not prepared to give up his work as an artist for administrative duties. On a sunny winter’s day, she might call and say: “Director Vuorikoski, the light is good. Go paint. Why are you sitting in the office?”

Vuorikoski has held numerous solo exhibitions in Tampere, mainly at Galleria Saskia. In Helsinki, his work was shown first at Bäcksbacka’s legendary Taidesalonki on Bulevardi, and later at Veikko Halmetoja’s gallery. He held ten exhibitions at Taidesalonki before it closed. Halmetoja has also curated Vuorikoski’s works for group exhibitions, such as the Mänttä Art Festival in 2018. In 2022, Vuorikoski presented a series of large-scale charcoal drawings at the Taide Vionoja summer exhibition in Kokkola. In the autumn of 2026, his works will be shown at the Lapua Art Museum.

– Veikko Halmetoja, curator of the exhibition

Timo Vuorikoski (b. 1945, Helsinki) is a painter based in Tampere. He holds a Licentiate of Philosophy degree and the honorary title of Professor. He served as Director of the Sara Hildén Art Museum from 1979 to 2006. Vuorikoski studied at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki from 1963 to 1965 and 1969 to 1971. At the same time, he studied art history at the University of Helsinki and worked there as an assistant at the Department of Art History from 1967 to 1978.

Collection Kakkonen

Collection Kakkonen is the world’s largest and most significant private collection of Finnish glass and ceramic art. The collection, built by Commercial Counsellor and art collector Kyösti Kakkonen, focuses on Finnish design art – especially glass and ceramics. What began as a passionate hobby has grown over three decades into a carefully curated and professionally managed collection. A central motivation behind the collecting has been the desire to preserve Finland’s cultural heritage within the country. As such, the collection includes numerous historically important works that had previously ended up abroad.

This extensive private collection features works by all the key figures in Finnish design. Its core consists of comprehensive selections from the works of Rut Bryk, Kaj Franck, Birger Kaipiainen, Toini Muona, Kyllikki Salmenhaara, Timo Sarpaneva, Michael Schilkin, Oiva Toikka, and Tapio Wirkkala, among others.

Over the years, the collection has expanded to include both Finnish and international contemporary art. Collection Kakkonen is committed to public accessibility and visibility. Works from the collection have been exhibited in numerous national and international museums, including the Design Museum (Helsinki), EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, The Finnish Glass Museum, the Museum of Oriental Ceramics (Japan), Grassi Museum (Germany), and Falkenberg Museum (Sweden).

The Finlayson Art Area exhibition in summer 2025 will present contemporary glass and ceramic art as well as art prints from the Collection Kakkonen. The selection includes a vibrant and diverse array of works by both established and emerging artists. Featured artists include Jasmin Anoschkin, EGS, Alma Jantunen, Janne Rahunen, Johannes Rantasalo, and Markku Salo. The Finlayson Art Area exhibition is curated by Collection Kakkonen’s curator, Juhani Kukkonen.