Å–gallery, Turku, Finland 8.12. – 30.12.2012 An underlying theme in many of Jan-Erik Andersson’s art projects is the exploration and questioning of the borderline between the adult world and the childhood. Andersson’s most known work, the leaf shaped Life on a Leaf house project (with architect Erkki Pitkäranta) is, among other things, also an investigation
Solo exhibition at the Art Kaarisiltagallery (Sanomatalo, Helsinki) 7.11.– 2.12.2012 Art Kaarisilta gallery invited Andersson for a solo exhibition. Because of Andersson’s interest in making site specific public art as well as architecture, nine years have gone by since his last solo gallery exhibition (Sculptor gallery, Helsinki, 2003). Andersson accepted the invitation, inspired by the
Installed together with the Sounding Dome Sauna in front of the Turku City Art Museum 26.6–19.8.2012 The Sounding Dome Sauna was installed as a part of the Saunalab exhibition, arranged by the Turku European Capital of Culture 2011 Foundation (See below for more information about the Sounding Dome Sauna project). As one of the projects,
Jan-Erik Andersson and Shawn Decker: Sounding Dome Sauna, Saunalab exhibition, Kupittaa outdoor swimming pool area, Turku 1.6-21.8.2011 The Sounding Dome Sauna, is designed by Jan-Erik Andersson. The project is one of several artist-designed and constructed saunas, which were part of the SaunaLab project, one of the many projects that make up the City of Turku
A Video Kiosk presenting the Life on a Leaf house project. Installation in the ECO-ART exhibition in Pori Art Museum, Finland, 4.2.–29.5.2011. A Video Kiosk presenting the Life on a Leaf house project was exhibited in the ECO-ART exhibition in Pori Art Museum in Finland, 4.2.-29.5.2011. The exhibition was curated by Pia Hovi-Assad and Guest
The Life on a Leaf house project is exhibited in the Laznia Centre for Contemporary Art in Gdansk, Poland, in the Punkt ø, Moss, Norway (Galeri F15), and in the Kuopio Art Museum The Life on a Leaf house project is presented in various setups in: Living Space – Unusual Experience exhibition in the Laznia Centre
Retretti Art Center The birds build their nests by instinct. Although the nest lack the organized structure, which is typical for human buildings it is still very functional and has a beautiful form. In the Bird’s Nest Café a seemingly chaotic structure is simulated by using wooden triangular parts as building blocks, through which you
A collaboration with sound artist Shawn Decker Turku City Art Museum 26.5.-16.9.2007 The Nest in the Turku city art museum in Finland, also called the Wäinö Aaltonen Art Museum, was made for the Wild exhibition, curated by Andersson and Canadian curator Jen Budney. The exhibition dealt with the idea of fantasy related architecture, and contained
A two part installation made for the first promovation of doctors at the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, 2006. The work, commissioned by the Academy of Fine Arts, was installed in the staircase of the Ateneum building in Helsinki. Because the event was meant to honor the theoretical aspects of making art, Andersson used a
Installation in the Turku Castle 1.12.2007– through August 2008 The installation previously shown in St Petersburg was installed in the Turku Castle. Curator Maria Korosteleva commissioned Andersson to make an installation for the Anna Akhmatova Museum. She wanted a contemporary artist’s view of the Moomin trolls to be made as an interactive installation for children.
Installation in the Moscow International Book Fair 3–8.9. 2008 The installation previously shown in St Petersburg and Turku ended in the Moscow Book Fair. Curator Maria Korosteleva commissioned Andersson to make an installation for the Anna Akhmatova Museum. She wanted a contemporary artist’s view of the Moomin trolls to be made as an interactive installation
A collaboration with sound artist Shawn Decker Evanston Art Center, USA. 20.6.2007 – through June 2008 The Bird’s Nest Evanston is basically the same version as in the Turku City Art Museum, but made to function outdoors. Also, the main building of the art center (a neo arts and crafts building from 1920) with long
Installation in the Anna Akhmatova Museum in St Petersburg, 15.12– 11.2.2007 Curator Maria Korosteleva commissioned Andersson to make an installation for the Anna Akhmatova Museum. She wanted a contemporary artist’s view of the Moomin trolls to be made as an interactive installation for children. Andersson wrote a story (published below) to inspire the installation and
A collaboration with sound artist Shawn Decker TAJU 2005, environmental exhibition in Hyvinkää, 10.6.-4.9.2005 This installation was in the center of a small town,Hyvinkää, outside of Helsinki, as a part of the TAJU05 environmental art exhibition. It was installed for an entire summer as part of a café in the City Center. Decker could not
A collaboration with sound artist Shawn Decker ISEA 2004 Wireless Experience exhibition, Kiasma, Helsinki 2004 (on display in Sanomatalo) The Bird’s Nest Helsinki continues the collaboration between Jan-Erik Andersson and sound artist Shawn Decker. The Bird’s Nest Helsinki explores new ways of developing architecture based on forms found in nature. These forms are combined with
Wäinö Aaltonen Art Museum, Turku 20.11.2003-11.1.2004. As a part of Andersson’s The Core of Christmas exhibition. The Kissing Bridge, 2001-2003. The media installation is a part of a series of works by Andersson aimed at spreading the feeling of “love is all around you” into a world. Visitors could walk over the lip shaped bridge, covered with
Laukaa 11.7.2003-10.8.2003 For the exhibition of private houses in Laukaa, Andersson was commissioned to do an installation in an old storehouse for wheat by the interior design magazine Glorian koti. The storehouse, situated in the middle of the exhibition area, has boxes for storing the wheat, now empty, in the ground floor and a first
The Blue Bell House, the Fir Tree Sandbox and the Rainbow Swing A playground sculpture for Liisa & Reijo Joronen and their grandchildren, Sommarö, Espoo, 2002 Andersson has for a long time been interested in sculptures which, besides having a visual function, also are accessible for the public. Earlier examples are the Christmas Tree Sandbox,
Puerto Rico ‘02 [en ruta] 6-13.10. 2002 Andersson was invited by curator Paula Toppila to take part in PR’02 (en ruta), an international exhibition arranged by M&M proyectos in Puerto Rico, with contemporary art interacting with the society. The artists chosen by Toppila made their projects in Bayamón, an industrial city, closely connected with the
Ruine der Franziskaner-Klosterkirche in Berlin, 2002 In an exhibition in the 12th century cloister ruins close to Berlin Alexanderplatz, Andersson decided to make a new version of the Bird’s Nest installation in Retretti Art Center in Punkaharju. The beautiful ruins of the medieval cloister church, with ornamented brick walls, invited for a work commenting on
Boom Boom Boom (when I almost lost my faith in John Lee Hooker), set design, Turku Theatre, 2002 The team consisting of poet Markku Into, producing the text and sound, artist Simo Alitalo making the soundscape and me as the set designer, got a second chance in 2002 to produce an experimental play on the small stage at
Interactive Media installation for kissing. Retretti Art Center, Punkaharju 2001 The Kissing Bridge was part of the Retretti Art Center’s summer 2001 exhibition program. The bridge installation was built in the Retretti caves, where large spaces for showing contemporary art have been made into the Finnish rock. It is a part of a series of works
The aim of the WWCH project is to create a culinary pleasure link between different countries and cities. In spring 2002 a connection was made between Galleri21 in Malmö and Lume gallery in Helsinki. The audience in Helsinki could take web cam-snapshots of themselves through a specially designed computer interface and send the picture to
For the Urban Art Event organized by the City of Tampere in 1999, Andersson decided to use chocolate as a starting point for his project. The process of making chocolate sculptures is the same as other traditional ways of casting sculptures in bronze or plaster. A prototype is made in modeling clay, a mold is made from
The Coffee Percolator 2000 Together with author Markku Into and sound artist Simo Alitalo, Andersson made a play in the surrealistic spirit for the Turku City Theatre’s Millennium celebration. The trio worked independently and the results were melted together to form something unexpected. The common departing point was coffee, coffee drinking and a song Markku
Installation/sculpture/café/performance Public Arts, Wakefield, 1998 For the international Artranspennine98 exhibition in the UK, arranged by Tate Gallery Liverpool and The Henry Moore Foundation, Andersson chose the garden of Public Arts in Wakefield for an interactive installation. Under a big willow tree, with old gravestones in the background, a 17 m long and 19 m wide
Installations and sculptures, Södertälje Art Hall, Sweden, 1998 Due to my playful approach to art, I am often invited to do projects involving communication with children. One of my goals has been to mix the worlds of children and adults and I always enjoy these projects a lot. I was commissioned by the Art hall in
A sculpture-story about encountering death. Taidemaalariliiton kesänäyttely, Galleria Allinna, Riihimäki 1997, Country and Urban Lappeenranta 2001; Artemisia gallery, Chicago, Galérie Régine Lussan, Paris; Institut Finlandais, Paris Andersson has worked on this sculpture since 1996, slowly changing it for each of the new exhibitions it has been shown in. At the same time he has been
Black-White / The Heartshaped House. Installation about light, darkness and unhappy love. Amos Anderson Art Museum 1997, Södertälje Konsthall 1998, Malmö Konstmuseum 2000, Rostock Kunsthalle 2000, Wäinö Aaltonen Art Museum (WAM) 2003. The work is now in the collections of the Wäinö Aaltonen Art Museum (WAM). For the MAP biennale 1997 in Helsinki Andersson made
Arizona University Art Museum, Flagstaff, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, McNeese State University Art Gallery, Lake Charles 1996, Retretti Art Center 2001, Galleri 21, Malmö 2002 Lately Andersson has been interesting in changing and remaking older works to see how and if they can stand time. The Pizza Hut of Love is one of these
Interactive sculpture, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, 1996 The visitors could use the knives attached to the table and carve messages. The table makes tribute to old handicrafts. The sail was made by a professional sail maker from the island Åland, the paper bag by an artisan making hand made paper, the scissors by a blacksmith
Artistic pastry and coffee table. Kivipankki, Jämsä 1994; Galerie Sculptor, Helsinki 1995; Turku Art Museum 1995 In the beginning of the 1990ties Andersson planned to leave the art world and start a restaurant. Due to the recession, which hit Finland at that time, he wasn’t able to realize his idea. But the thought of doing art
Museu de Arte Contemporanea (MAC), Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1994 For the exhibition “Art by Air Freight” of Finnish contemporary Art in the Museu de Arte Contemporanea (MAC) in Sao Paulo, Andersson used his installation-sculpture Marcel Duchamp dans la Douche. It is a surreal portrait of Duchamp (and Mona Lisa!) staring through his binoculars. It had
Sotkamo 1994, Oulu Art Museum (permanently installed in front of the museum) 1996 Andersson took part in the Sculptor’s Union’s exhibition in Eastern Finland. One small town was given to each artist and Andersson got Sotkamo. When Andersson drove to Sotkamo to get a feeling of the place, he could still see some remnants of
Installation in Sara Hilden Art Museum, Tampere, 1997 and Retretti Art Centre, Punkaharju, 2001. The installation was made around Andersson’s little fairy tale about a skating girl, who helps a star that has crashed on Earth to go back up in the Universe again. As a reward she is allowed one wish and she wishes
Installation in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (in collaboration with Henrietta Lehtonen and Annuska Rantanen) 1993 For an exhibition intended for children at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki in 1993, Andersson wrote his own version of the fairy tale of the three pigs and the wolf. It was presented as a video
Galerie Kaj Forsblom, 1991 Sculptures and reliefs installed to form a whole. The starting point for the exhibition was Anderssons visit to the Swiss Alps where he heard stories about children dying when rolling down the slopes forming big snowballs. He was advised to hold his own three years old daughter tight in her hand
Pori Art Museum, Turku Art Museum 1990 In the 80:ties it was common for the rising stars of the art scene to have retrospective exhibitions, normally reserved for older artists, when they were in their 30:ties. These exhibitions were ironically called baby retrospectives by art critics. During the 80:ties I used my favourite artists’ works
Installed in the yard of the Turku Castle as a part of the Budka exhibition 1989. Pori Art Museum, 1990. Now in the collections of the Matti Koivurinta Foundation (Ars Nova Museum, Turku)
Temporary installation/sculpture in the Kamppi metro station in Helsinki, 1987 Andersson wanted to do a whole installation about the Italian futurists. On a city profile turning from a normal city into a war machine, the silhouettes of the most famous futurist artists; Hugo Balla, are doing a ballet. The aquarelles in front of the installation show who