JENNI HILTUNEN

Early life

Jenni Hiltunen was born in Hollola, Finland in 1981. In 2004, she graduated from the Turku Arts Academy, and in 2007, earned an MA from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts.

Paintings

Painting mainly female figures with bold brushstrokes, graphic colours and flattened planes, Jenni Hiltunen explores what she calls 'posing culture', or the contemporary phenomenon of self-presentation through social media. Her subjects generally appear both disdainful and poised, as though they are both wary of the viewer's gaze and performing for it.

Working with acrylic and more recently oil, Hiltunen also borrows motifs from fashion in her work. She often uses her friends, family and neighbours—nearly all women—to pose for her, while some works include indirect reference to Hiltunen's life. In the oil painting The Day I Saw You (2017), Hiltunen depicts her younger herself seated in a corner and meeting the viewer's eye with a defiant and aware gaze.

Apart from painting, Hiltunen also makes video works that have been screened at international film festivals. Her 2011 video work Grind is a four-minute-long piece depicting dancers in indiginous Sámi outfits performing Jamaican dance hall moves in slow motion. Pointing to the convergence of globalism and entertainment, the work's title is borrowed from The Grind, a 1990s MTV programme which featured young people dancing to hip-hop, rap and dance music. Hiltunen has also worked with fabrics, installations and ceramics.

Exhibitions and Public Displays

Jenni Hiltunen's works have been the subject of numerous international solo and group exhibitions.

Select solo shows have been held at Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki (2019, 2013, 2010); Växjo Art Site, Sweden (2018); Galerie Forsblom, Stockholm (2017); Mimmo Scognamiglio Artecontemporanea, Milan (2017); Studio at Kunsthalle, Helsinki (2010); Korjaamo Gallery, Helsinki (2009); Gallery Katariina, Helsinki (2008); Huuto Gallery, Helsinki (2007); Gallery Jangva, Helsinki (2006); and B Gallery, Turku, Finland (2005).

Collections

Jenni Hiltunen's works are collected at Finnish institutions such as Finnish Art Collection; Finnish Art Society; Kansan Sivistysrahasto, Päivi and Paavo Lipponen Trust; Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art; Saastamoinen Foundation; and The hiltunenCollection of Finnish State Art Commission.

Leila Sajjadi | Ocula | 2022