Birger Kaipiainen - beauty without boundaries

Decorative plate, 1980s.

Violets, larks, swans, pearls, roses. Butterflies, mirrors, clocks stopped at fifteen minutes past twelve, volatile portraits of beautiful women and men. Pure poetry in ceramics. 

Our beloved ceramic artist Birger Kaipiainen (1915-88) offers us now a lavish celebration for the eye and heart in EMMA, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, thanks to the collector Kyösti Kakkonen who owns a major collection of Kaipiainen´s art. 

In the chilly climate of Scandinavian design Birger Kaipiainen was a strange bird of paradise who always knew his own way and value. 

As the artist said in an interview to mark his 60th birthday, ”The imagination doesn´t cost a penny. It has no boundaries, and nobody can dictate where it changes it´s course."

Angel (sculpture, 1967).

 

Bust of Birger Kaipiainen by Michael Schilkin (1942).

Birger Kaipiainen – kuriton kaunosielu (Aesthete Extraordinaire, Birger Kaipiainen´s Ceramic Fantasies) is open until January 12th 2014 in EMMA, Ahertajantie 5, Tapiola, Espoo.
How and when to get there: www.emma.museum 
P.S. A specialty you can now buy only in EMMA is the wallpaper Kiurujen yö (Night of the Skylarks), designed in 1958 and now available in colours approved by the artist but never before this in production.

Photos©Paula Hietaranta

 

The best of Helsinki – especially for you!

Is there a more challenging job than writing a travel guide? 

It is almost impossible to get everything right, there are always some new things popping up and old ones closing down or moving to a new address. Especially in Helsinki where is now so much fun going on all the time!

Considering this I think the Finnish journalist Heidi Kalmari has done a pretty good job. The brand new Mondo Travel Guide Helsinki is now out, and it is so versatile, fresh and interesting that you should have a copy of your own, even if you are living in Helsinki. 

You can buy it in Finnish or English in a bookshop or order it straight from the publisher here:

http://verkkokauppa.a-lehdet.fi/Mondo-matkaoppaat

Also available as iPad version, perfect!

Photo©Paula Hietaranta

We are sailing...

Jacob Hashimoto: Armada (1998-2010). Mixed media.

What do we see when we see art? 

This is really a weird question, and the answer depends on the amount of our feelings and experiences. 

Yesterday I visited the Jacob Hashimoto´s exhibition at Galerie Forsblom, and suddenly I felt  a rush of happiness. 

In front of my eyes was a big room full of  hundreds of small sailing boats, moving softly on the invisible sea. 

The sight was pure beauty, illusion of freedom – something a man could and could not create. Illusion made with wood, paint, fabric, electricity, contingency, reminding us of the unknown powers of life.

Jacob Hashimoto: Armada & resent kite works until 27.7.2013 at Galerie Forsblom, Lönnrotinkatu 5, 00120 Helsinki. 

Opening hours Tue-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 11am-4pm, Sun 12am-4pm.

Photos©Paula Hietaranta