Arabia's ceramics factory closed in 2016, but ceramic art continues to be made in the premises of the former Arabia art department. The dozen or so artists of the Arabia Art Department Association cherish traditions and brilliantly renew ceramic art in their studios.
At the beginning of July, the premises of the Arabia Art Department Association are quiet. Of the ten artists, Marianne Huotari, Sakari Kannosto and Kati Tuominen-Niittylä are busy with work and are preparing their works for the association's 20th anniversary exhibition.
The art department association is located on the eighth floor of the former Arabia factory, and in its corridors you can get a glimpse of what goes on behind the green painted doors of the studio rooms.
The Arabia Art Department Society's 20th anniversary show Northern Latitude 60.20890 opens at the Iittala & Arabia Design Center on September 14, 2023 and will be on view through January 28, 2024. The exhibition of Finnish contemporary ceramics is curated by New York-based gallerists Juliet Burrows and Kim Hostler. It is accompanied by a catalog, Arabia Art Department Society: 20 Years, featuring an essay by Burrows.
The artists of the Arabia Art Department Society are featured in the new exhibition “Atelier Life,” on view at the Hvitträsk Museum in Finland through September.
Sakari Kannosto (Finnish, b. 1973) is a multimedia artist working in Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa Finland, with a primary focus on ceramic sculptures and large-scale installations. His fantastical and figurative creatures are inspired by fables, Greek mythology, and Finnish folklore. As he sculpts part human, part mermaid, part animal beings, he references the Finnish myth that animals can shape shift, traveling between worlds as protectors. Imbued with whimsy and humor, Kannosto’s work is also underscored by a deep environmental consciousness.
HB381 is pleased to announce Children of the Flood, an exhibition of new work by Sakari Kannosto (Finnish, b. 1973). This is Kannosto’s first solo presentation in the United States and marks the debut of a suite of nearly thirty figurative sculptures in stoneware.
Not to brag or anything but we figure that we’ve seen at least 80 – 100,000 artworks or images of artworks in our lifetime. And then we discovered contemporary ceramics.
HB381 presents Children of the Flood, an exhibition of new work by Sakari Kannosto (Finnish, b. 1973). This is Kannosto’s first solo presentation in the United States and marks the debut of a suite of nearly thirty figurative sculptures in stoneware.
Sakari Kannosto: Children of the Flood (September 9 – October 21, 2022) is a wildly inventive imagining of a world consumed and ruled by water, where humans adapt and evolve to live with the preexisting marine life.
HB381 is pleased to announce Children of the Flood, an exhibition of new work by Sakari Kannosto (Finnish, b. 1973). This is Kannosto’s first solo presentation in the United States and marks the debut of a suite of nearly thirty figurative sculptures in stoneware. The artist will be present for an opening reception on September 9th, from 5 to 8 pm.
SAKARI KANNOSTO
Finnish, b. 1973
EDUCATION
2009-2011
Haaga-Helia, University of Applied Sciences
2000-2005
Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Sculpture, Helsinki
1995-1998
UIAH, Open University of Art and Design, Helsinki
1990-1994
Visual Arts School of Helsinki
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Children of the Flood, HB381, New York, NY
Spring Song, S/E/B Bank, Window Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2021
On the Beach, Gumbostrand Konst & Form, Sipoo, Finland
2020
Mole, Chantarelle & Lollipop Tree, Galleria Saskia, Tampere, Finland
2018
To the Last Shore, Gallery Mältinranta, Finland
Ark I, Library of Sello, Espoo, Finland
Media Igloo, Omnia, Espoo, Finland
2017
On the Last Shore, Galleria Sculptor, Helsinki, Finland
Ceramic Art, Restaurant Silvoplee, Helsinki, Finland
Ark I, Omnia, Espoo, Finland
2014
Afri-Chicken, Gran Popo, Benin
2013
Border, Omnia, Espoo, Finland
2007
Dream Speed, Galleria Katariina, Helsinki, Finland
2003
Beach Gallery, Järvenpää, Finland
Tieto-Enator, Gallen Kallela Museum, Espoo, Finland
2002
Perho Perhe, Butterfly Family, Sörnäinen, Helsinki, Finland
1999
Sculptures, Inaugural Exhibition, Kulttuuriareena Gloria, Helsinki, Finland
1998
Sculptures, Restaurant Cantina West, Helsinki, Finland
TURN-ON, Sörnäinen Art House, Helsinki, Finland
TURN-ON, Stoa-galleria, Helsinki, Finland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Northern Latitude 60.20890: The Arabia Art Department Society’s 20th anniversary exhibition,
Iittala & Arabia Design Centre, Helsinki, Finland
Atelier Life, Hvitträsk National Museum of Finland, Kirkkonummi, Finland
2022
Imago Mundi, Surrealism Exhibition, Gallery Ice Room, Joutsa, Finland
Camping site, Art House Brander, Mänttä, Finland
2021
Culture Action, Grand Popo, Benin
Contemporary Finnish Artists, Hostler Burrows, New York
Clay Ceremony: Riska, Kannosto, Anoschkin, Huotari, Riitahuhta, Muji, Helsinki,Finland
On the Edge, Korundi, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Finland
Burning Desire, Avantgardevekkula, Haihatus, Joutsa, Finland
TEOS, Suvilahti, Helsinki, Finland
2020
Animal Dam, Sakari Kannosto, Topi Ruotsalainen, Galleria Pato, Kuusankoski, Finland
Arabia Art Department Society: New Seasons, Muji, Kamppi, Finland
Erotic Art Vol 2., Galleria Pirkko-Liisa Topelius, Helsinki, Finland
Group Exhibition, S/E/B Bank Gallery, Etelä-Esplanadi 18, Helsinki, Finland
Ceramega 2020, Särmä, Voipaala Art Center, Voipaala, Finland
Avantgardevekkula, Haihatus, Joutsa, Finland
Forest Primeval, Inaugural Exhibition, Hostler Burrows, Los Angeles, USA
TEOS 2020, Cable Factory, Helsinki, Finland
2019
Finlayson, Art Area, Himmelblau, Tampere, Finland
Group Exhibition Curated by Marja Helander, Mänttä, Finland
Group Exhibition, Iittala & Arabia Design Center, Helsinki, Finland
2018
Karhulan Hovi, Haihatus, Joutsa, Finland
Gallery Old Smoke, Merikarvia, Finland
About Clay, Fiskars Village, Finland
2016
Kari Hakli, Kukka Paavilainen, Sakari Kannosto, Galleria Pirkko-Liisa Topelius, Helsinki, Finland
2015
Sculptures, Art Goes Kapakka, Tsiigaa! Goes Graffiti, Cafe Engel, Helsinki, Finland
The News Play of the Week, Haihatus, Joutsa, Finland
2014
Ceramics and Space: The Exhibition of Contemporary Finnish Ceramics, Design Museo, Helsinki, Finland
Objekti, Espoo Kunsthalle, Finland
2013
Border, Hyvinkään Asuntomessut, Hyvinkää, Finland
Artist Chain, Blaue Fraue-group, Diana Teather, Helsinki, Finland
2012
Artists 2012, Helsinki Kunsthalle, Finland
Art Forum, Helsinki Kunsthalle, Finland
Ceramega, Voipaala Art Center, Valkeakoski, Finland
2011
Art forum, Helsinki Kunsthalle, Finland
Ars Auttoinen, Ovi Rivoon, Finland
2010
FIDEM, Tampere Art Museum, Finland
2009
Dream Speed, Honkahovi, Mänttä, Finland
2008
Annual Exhibition of the Finnish Artists’ Association, Kuntsi, Museum of Modern Art
Behind the Mustache, Cable factory, Helsinki, Finland
Miracle Art, Taidekeskus Ihana, Finland
2007
Tsiigaa, Art Goes Kapakka, Helsinki, Finland
V.I.P, 25 – Best Artists in Finland, Curator Jani Leinonen, Mänttä, Finland
2006
Art Supermarket, Gallerry Pikasso, Helsinki, Finland 2005
HOME, Vanha Kappalaisentalo, Porvoo, Finland
Academy of Fine Arts, Graduate Exhibition, Helsinki Art Museum, Tennispalatsi, Finland
Finnish Medal Guild, Tampere Art Museum, Finland
2004
V.I.P – Academy of Fine Art, Helsinki, Finland
White, V.I.P Ruukki, Fiskars Village, Finland
Ceramic, Voipaala Art Center, Valkeakoski, Finland
Hehku! – Ceramic Happening, Kankaanpää, Finland
2003
Academy of Fine Arts, Group Exhibition, Helsinki, Finland
2002
Medallic Art on Purnu, Orivesi, Finland
2001
Forces of light, MEMORY, Esplanadi, Helsinki, Finland
Exhibition of Young Artists, Helsinki Kunsthalle, Finland
2000
TERROR 2000, ROR –Group, Nordic House, Reykjavik, Iceland
TERROR 2000, ROR –Group, INTO gallery, Helsinki, Finland
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Guild of Medallic Art of Finland
National Museum of Finland
Art Museum of Tampere, Finland
State Art Collection of Finland
MEMBERSHIPS
Vantaa Artist Association
Arabian Art Department Society, Chairman of the Board
The Guild of Medallic Art of Finland
Association of Finnish Sculptors
Helsinki Artist Association
