Vesa-Pekka Rannikko

Vesa-Pekka Rannikko (1968) is a versatile artist who tests the boundaries of individual art forms. His paintings grow out of the wall, he treats his sculptures in a painterly way, thus questioning the perception of three-dimensional space. His exhibitions mix elements of installation, animation, performance and static objects, working with the grey zone between individual media, which he denies in his own approach. His main theme is the process of creation itself. He also highlighted it during the Venice Biennale in 2011 in his work And all structures are unstable, consisting of a layered installation in which the artistic production itself is repeated. Through three overlapping layers of video, Rannikko imprisons the viewer in an endless process of creation – canvas after canvas, video after video. He captures the process in this way in his painting and sculpture as well. In the exhibition, he presents a series of plaster casts of organic shapes, in which he questions the existence of complete abstraction. According to him, the very process of creating an abstract work leaves certain narratives in the work that are inscribed in it, just as the abstract genome creates a concrete existence. He creates works by casting pigment-dyed plaster into flexible moulds, gradually setting the fluid plaster in the mould during the working process. This refers to the process of geological stratification and chronology. Some works capture only a moment, others several years of layered work. The organicity of his objects suggestively supports the narrative of growth and temporality, thus creating its own ecosystem, which, in addition to the process of creation, also reflects the personal history of the artist and the viewer. Vesa-Pekka Rannikko lives and works in Helsinki and his art has been presented at various solo and group exhibitions and video art festivals around the world. His works are presented in a number of important private and public collections, such as the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Helsinki Art Museum and the Saastamoinen Foundation. In addition, he has carried out a number of public commissions and in 2015 he was awarded the State of Finland Prize for Fine Arts.