Paul Osipow

26.1. - 24.3.2019

Kunsthalle Helsinki is pleased to present a comprehensive retrospective featuring a leading name in Finnish art, Paul Osipow. Produced by the Finnish Art Society and curated by gallerist Kari Kenetti, the exhibition provides an enlightening overview of the many stages of his creative evolution.

In a career now spanning 60 years, Paul Osipow (b. 1939) has systematically pushed the limits of creative expression by exploring varied avenues of painting. Produced by the Finnish Art Society, this retrospective features Osipow’s geometrical and free-form abstract paintings alongside figurative works such as his Classical ruins and still life compositions with food, as well as previously unseen abstract paintings, from the 1960s to the present day.

The act and process of painting has always had focal emphasis in Osipow’s rich, varied oeuvre. Many of his works incorporate identifiable allusions to existing artists and art movements. Never adhering to any particular style or ideology, he draws inspiration from art history in his own inimitable way, celebrating the act of painting as an organic event through which colours and forms spontaneously find their place on the canvas.

Osipow graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 1962. His work is found in many notable Nordic collections including the Oslo National Museum, the Ateneum Museum of Finnish Art and Stockholm’s Moderna Museet. Osipow has won numerous awards including the Finnish Art Society’s Ducat Prize in 1966, a 15-year art grant from the Finish State in 1985, the Prince Eugen Medal in 1989, the Pro Finlandia Medal in 1990, the Order of the Lion of Finland in 2005, and the Kordelin Foundation Lifetime Achievement award in 2009.

The Finnish Art Society publishes a book about Paul Osipow in conjunction with the exhibition. Contributing writers are visual artist Silja Rantanen who holds a PhD in visual arts, as well as art critic and curator Timo Valjakka.

Paul Osipow, Helsingin Taidehalli, 2019

Paul Osipow, Helsingin Taidehalli, 2019

Paul Osipow, Olympia, 2013, öljy kankaalle, 210 x 172 cm