Aki Turunen

Aki Turunen’s paintings are based on a combination of intuitive, subconscious imagery and a deep knowledge of art history. Turunen’s interest in tradition causes the artist to position himself strongly in the continuum both in his choices of materials and the imagery he deals with. By shaping traditional tools such as tempera painting to his own use and combining a personal narrative to images drawn from history, Turunen approaches a shared human experience and an omnipresent history.

The recurring figures in his paintings are often both symbolic and mythological. Turunen has dealt in his work with, for example, enigmatic snakes and dragons, volcanoes, butterflies, mysterious moonlight, rainbows and floral motifs. In his work, Turunen strives for openness and permissiveness, which results in the delicate, clear strokes of the finished paintings.

Aki Turunen (b. 1983) lives and works in Helsinki. He graduated with an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, in 2011. Turunen has also studied painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. His works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Finland, e.g. at Helsinki Contemporary and Galleria Forum Box, and internationally at SCHWARZ CONTEMPORARY in Berlin and in Alice Folker Gallery and Martin Asbæk Gallery in Copenhagen.

His works are, among others, in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Saastamoinen Foundation, the Miettinen Collection, Lars Göran Johnsson’s collection at Turku Art Museum and the Finnish State Art Commission. In autumn 2021, the Finnish Art Society awarded Turunen a William Thuring designated prize.