KARI HUHTAMO ART FOUNDATION

SUOMI

SCULPTOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL ARTIST ANTERO TOIKKA

ANTERO TOIKKA
Antero Toikka (photographer Lucien den Arend)

Sculptor Antero Toikka is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts (1976-1980). He also studied at the Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, Rotterdam in the Netherlands in 1982. Toikka’s public career got started from the Artists’ Association of Finland’s Young Artists–exhibition in 1977.

Toikka is known for his public works of art. He has done both temporary and permanent landmarks in the city and highway environments. In 2011 Antero Toikka was invited to China to create a sculpture for the Changchun sculpture park. Ronda, a steel construction consisting of orange circles, reaches at its highest five meters. Furthermore he was selected to represent Finland in the Dialogue with The Emperor Qin’s warriors –exhibition promoting cultural cooperation between EU and China. In 2011-2013 his work is seen in fourteen exhibitions both in China and Europe.

ANTERO TOIKKA
Sigma 2006

Toikka's sculptures give form to the reality beyond ordinary perception of the world. The clarity of structure reflects the cosmic scale and the relationships between the Milky Way and celestial bodies. The minimalistic aesthetics conceals a mathematical truth and thus offers the viewer beauty in its universal form and meaning in a cosmic scale.

Antero Toikka has taught at the Lahti Institute of Art 1987 - 2007. He has served as a chairman for the Association of Finnish Sculptors 2003-2009, and has been a board member of the Kunsthalle of Helsinki and Kalervo Kallio studio house since 2010. Toikka has also been a guest curator for art exhibitions such as the 1999 Mänttä Art Festival.

Kasvukäytävä/Growth Passage-Thoughts on the Artistic Creation Process Encounters-seminar 26.4.2007

ANTERO TOIKKA
Crossover 2004

In his speech Antero Toikka shed light on the seminar theme - "thinking is the most important thing” - by presenting photos of his works and telling about their genesis and the creation process in general. Special attention was on Kasvukäytävä/Growth Passage sculpture situated on the intersection of Highway Four and Helsinki - Lahti railway line. The mastery of the technical aspects of creation is of essence in this kind of heavy and large constructions in the mercy of the environment. Therefore the interaction between the artist and the environment can become very concrete. On the other hand the interaction between the environment and the work of art is quite dynamic. Every passing car, train and passenger bears its mark on the work of art, recreates it on an existential level and thus becomes a part of the creative process.

Katariina Lipsanen

Sources:
Marjut Pitkänen, Kari Huhtamon Taidesäätiö; ja Sari Väyrynen, Lapin Yliopisto. Bulletin on the Encounters-seminar.
Merja Vehmas: Top artists trust the idea of the world class university. Lapin Kansa 27.4.2007.


Encounters page
Kari Piippo
Lucien den Arend
Jorma Hautala
Yrjö Kukkapuro
Antero Toikka