SCULPTOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL ARTIST 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.
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
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