The Helsinki School


The Helsinki School was a name introduced in an article by Boris Hohmeyer, Aufbruch im hohen Norden, in art Das Kunstmagazin in 2003. This was the first time it was used as a brand name to describe a selection of artists who had studied under adjunct professor Timothy Persons at Aalto University School of Arts, Architecture and Design in Helsinki from the beginning of 1990s until now.
It was based upon a Professional Studies program that used its academic platform to create an environment that blended its teachers, students and former graduates together in a contextual dialogue through group exhibitions, publications and the utilisation of the international art fairs as a means for teaching, referencing and presenting these artists’ works to the international community.

History

and Arno Rafael Minkkinen were the original mentors who inspired the first generation of artists like Jorma Puranen, Ulla Jokisalo and Timo Kelaranta.
The next generation would already be composed by artists like such as Jyrki Parantainen, Marjaana Kella, Pertti Kekarainen, Joakim Eskildsen, Ilkka Halso, Tiina Itkonen, Elina Brotherus, Aino Kannisto, Ola Kolehmainen, Janne Lehtinen, Sanna Kannisto and Riitta Päiväläinen.
The third generation: Sandra Kantanen, Ari Kakkinen, Niko Luoma, Santeri Tuori and Jari Silomäki.
The fourth generation: Ville Lenkkeri, Anni Leppälä, Susanna Majuri, Mikko Sinervo, Nelli Palomäki, Milja Laurila, Niina Vatanen, Eeva Karhu.
Fifth generation: Tanja Koljonen, Juuso Noronkoski, Mikko Rikala.
Sixth generation: Ville Kumpulainen, Jaakko Kahilaniemi, Hilla Kurki, Rainer Paananen.

Characteristics

The Helsinki School follows other of two key photographic movements: The New American Color Photography which established color photography as an important artistic medium, beginning with the William Eggleston exhibition at the MoMA in New York in 1976. And the Düsseldorf School, which emerged in the late 1970s under the guidance of Bernd and Hilla Becher, followers of the 1920s German tradition of Neue Sachlichkeit. Their students, Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth modified the approach by applying new technical possibilities and contemporary vision. These movements combined with the influence of the Icelandic minimalism and artists like Donald Judd, played a pivotal role in understanding the roots of the Helsinki School.
The Helsinki School was based upon a Professional Studies program that was unique in how it used its academic platform to create an environment that blended its teachers, students and former graduates together in a contextual dialogue through group exhibitions, publications and the utilisation of the international art fairs as a means for teaching, referencing and presenting these artists’ works to the international community. It's grounded on an approach that introduces the students in how to use criticism as a positive tool. This places the emphasis more on how to find solutions rather than the fear of making mistakes. Due to financial restrictions, common to many universities, Aalto has conceived a system where students teach each other through their shared experiences. A good example of this is in Aalto’s intern program of sending selected students abroad to work in residencies, galleries and other professional platforms.
Gallery Taik Persons was conceived as the vehicle to join all these generations together. The gallery was established in 1995 in Helsinki, however, since 2005 its permanent exhibition space has been located in Berlin. Its primary responsibility is to prepare and guide the students in how to manage their professional life.

Defining traits

The Helsinki School’s defining trait is the use of the photographic process as a tool for conceptual thinking. It was founded in 1995 in Helsinki and is to this day directed by Adjunct Professor Timothy Persons, who also created Persons Projects based in Berlin.
"There is a clarity of vision that seems to come out of the late evening northern summer light. The conceptual base is lucidly presented. There is an honesty and sincerity behind the work that is rare to find among a group of artists, the borderland discourse, which touches the very idea of identity. Many Helsinki School pictures bear signs of Finnish culture, unconscious or not, meanings related to nature and remoteness. This is quite natural in a country so sparsely populated. These photographs seem to be presentations of artists who sink with themselves." His verdict diverges from mine, however, in that he says, "Their photographs seem to be covering something, preferably hiding and hinting than saying anything direct. Yes, there is ambiguity, yes there is a Northern loneliness, but it speaks very directly. There is a sense of isolation in the way several of the artists express their identity. Instead of direct contact with somebody in the picture, photographs became full of landscapes, empty spaces, and figures somewhere in distance."

Publications

The Helsinki School platform sustains a direct link to its former alumni by joining their works with each new generation of graduates through the publication of The Helsinki School books by Hatje Cantz, that is currently in its 6th volume. The first book under the brand name of the Helsinki School was published in 2005.