Tiếng Việt
Maritta Nurmi
The Artist
1953 Finland
Maritta first started her academic life as a scientist graduating in 1987 with a Master of Science (Biology), from Turku University & Abo Akademi then in 1989-93 she completed her degree at the Arts Academy at Turku University of Applied Sciences. In 1993 she moved to Hanoi, intrigued by the Vietnamese medium of lacquer she began to study this traditional technique that has informed much of her later work.
Noted for her richly detailed works of silver, aluminum and copper leaf on canvas, in recent years the artist continued along this path adding text and textile to accentuate her shimmering surfaces. Nurmi experiments with layered copper and silver leaf, as well as bright acrylic paints often burying her most expressive work beneath layers of these fragile, thin precious metals. Her use of the gold, copper and silver leaf produces an explosive energy, which radiates off the canvas. This energy, which is produced by the rigidity of pattern counterbalanced by the interplay of the silver leaf on top of the acrylic paint, is the momentum for her journey, for climbing the mountains and being with the Gods.
In 2010 for her solo exhibition After the End of Art Anything Goes, the artist took inspiration from Arthur C. Danto, the philosopher and art critic, who questioned where art would go once it lost all relation to narrative. Maritta Nurmi takes this same position: Anything goes. Freed from the constraints of making “Art” as it is currently conceived, Nurmi explored all sorts of media and objects, elevating the everyday and mundane into what we may call the zone of the sublime.
In 2014-15 Maritta participated in the Ceramics in Space exhibition at the Design museum in Helsinki and has been involved in many public art installations and projects in Finland and Vietnam. Also in 2015 the artist’s work was shown along with many prestigious luminaries in the group exhibition Unknown Territories – Works from the Matti Koivurinta Foundation art collection, Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum of History and Contemporary Art, Finland.
Nurmi continues to exhibit extensively in Vietnam and internationally, completing many public art projects and a solo exhibition in 2019 in Finland. She divides her time between Helsinki and her beloved Hanoi. The artist’s works are in public collections in the Aboa Vetus Museum, Turku, Finland, Wāinō Aaltonen Museum, Turku, Finland, the Hämeenlinna Art Museum, Finland, Nikko Hotel Hanoi, Vietnam and Prudential, Tokyo, Japan and in private collections worldwide.
From the wild west of Montana to the eastern shores.
From the wild west of Montana to the eastern shores.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
what is this light
2019
Poriginal Gallery, Pori, Finland
ANIMA
2013
Manzi Art Space, Hanoi
Solo Exhibition Galleri Cupido Stockholm
2012
Sweden
Art Space Kustaa Hiekka
2011
Laitila, Finland
Art Vietnam Gallery
2010
Hanoi, Vietnam
Gallery Nefret
2009
Turku, Finland
Gallery Uusitalo
2008
Helsinki, Finland
Art Vietnam Gallery
2007
Hanoi, Vietnam
Titanik Gallery
2005
Turku, Finland
Numthong Gallery
2003
Bangkok, Thailand
Sideshow Gallery
2003
New York, USA
Laitila City Hall
2002
Laitila, Finland
Nha San
2001
Hanoi, Vietnam
Salon Natasha
2000
Hanoi, Vietnam
Salon Natasha
1997
Hanoi, Vietnam
Sunset Gallery
1996
Hanoi, Vietnam
Joki Gallery
1995
Turku, Finland
43 Trang Tien Gallery
1994
Hanoi, Vietnam
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Art for You, art fair
Seppa House, Honors for Visual Art
Unknown Territories, presenting the Matti Koivurinta Foundation art collection, Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum of History and Contemporary Art
2015
Saigon, Vietnam
Rauma, Finland
Finland
A Woman’s View
2014
Goethe-Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam
The 9th Triennial of Finnish Textile Art
Café Glaces Salon
2012
Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, Turku, Finland
Tonnerre, Bourgogne, France
Billnäs Summer Show
2011
Raasepori, Finland
Art Vietnam Gallery
2009
Hanoi, Vietnam
ArtAsia Miami, Miami, USA – International Fair for Contemporary Asian Art
2008
Fielding Lecht Gallery
2006
Austin, Texas, USA
Bankside Gallery
Sinebrychoff Art Museum
Wäinö Aaltonen Museum
Hämeenlinna Art Museum
2005
London, Great Britain
Helsinki, Finland
Turku, Finland
Hämeenlinna, Finland
Dahlem Museum
National Gallery
Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum (with Dinh Thi Tham Poong and Nguyen Bach Dan)
Chiang Mai Art Museum
2004
Berlin, Germany
Bangkok, Thailand
Hanoi, Vietnam
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Alliance Française
Transportale
2003
Hanoi, Vietnam
Berlin, Germany
Salo Art Museum
2002
Salo, Finland
Hämeenlinna Art Museum
2001
Hämeenlinna, Finland
Art Placement International
2000
New York City, USA
House of World Culture
Art Santa Fe (with Nguyen Cam and Phan Cam Thuong)
Pacific Bridge Gallery (with Nguyen Cam and Phan Cam Thuong)
1999
Berlin, Germany
New Mexico, USA
Oakland, USA
Arts of Pacific Asia
The Spirit of Hanoi – traveling exhibition organized by Salon Natasha in collaboration with 18 artists from Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland
1998
New York City, USA
Visual Center, Oulu, Finland
Gallery Bau, Helsinki, Finland
The 12th Asian International Art Exhibition
1997
Macao
Hämeenlinna Art Museum (with Minna Haukka and Gun Holmström)
1995
Hämeenlinna, Finland
Cultural Center (with Minna Haukka and Gun Holmström)
Porvoo Art Hall (with Minna Haukka and Gun Holmström)
1994
Uusikaupunki, Finland
Porvoo, Finland
Salon Natasha
1994 – 2004
Hanoi, Vietnam
Gallery Titanik
1994 – 1995
Turku, Finland
City Hall of Raisio (with Minna Haukka, Marika Kaarna, and Johanna Ilvessalo)
1993
Raisio, Finland
Brinkkala Gallery
1992
Turku, Finland
Artist Association of Turku
1991
Turku, Finland
