Olavi Lanu’s giant sculptures blend into nature-the works were cleaned by freezing before the 100th anniversary exhibition

As an artist, Olavi Lanu was ahead of his time. Now his extensive production is presented alongside international contemporary artists at a 100th anniversary exhibition in Lahti.

Originally completed as a painter, the Lahti artist is especially known for the large -scale human figures that blend into nature. The sculpture park dedicated to them can be found in Kariniemenmäki, Lahti. The city center also has a square named after Lanu.

The artist who received the title of international reputation in 1986 in Biennale, Venice, rose ten years earlier. There, the * life in the Finnish forests * series of natural materials there was a lot of attention.

Of the natural materials, Lanu moved into material experiments, which resulted in the sculpture of the sculpture to look like a blend of nature and surroundings.

For the frames of the sculpture, he could search for parts, for example, from the scrap -out. The subject of wood, metal, fiberglass or concrete sculptures is often human.

The artist’s goal was also that time and nature were shaping the works. In Lanu Park, moss can grow on the sculptures, and the gray, hidden concrete statues hidden in the terrain surprise the traveler.

Lanu was a pioneer

At the International * Changes * Changes in Malva Museum of Visual Arts, Olavi Lanu’s work will be introduced alongside modern and contemporary artists.

The city of Lahti has a collection of 230 works from Olavi Lanu. In 2017, many of the works received a donation from the heir after the artist’s death.

– He followed the art currents moving in time, traveled a lot and went to international exhibitions.

From the museum’s collection to the exhibition, about twenty jobs from different decades have been selected. The earliest of these are the 1960s and the latest from the 1990s. There are small paintings and massive sculptures, the largest six -meter * birch * in the entrance hall of the exhibition.

-The starting point for the * transformation * exhibition is Olavi Lanu’s work, with which eleven artist’s works discuss and have an over -generational dialogue, says Laamanen.

Venice Biennale’s original works have not survived, but Lanu returned to the subject in his later work.

Some of his works Lanu made directly into nature into temporary artwork. The exhibition features a photo series of the artist in the 1990s of nature-shaped characters.

– He formulated human figures from the metal network, who were at the mercy of the elements of nature of his time. Then he photos and documents them into photos that have been printed for the exhibition.

In the pictures, flowers, hay and mosses have covered and shaped the characters into the terrain.

Via the freezer to the exhibition

For restorators, Lanu’s versatile materials and unique ways of working have caused headaches.

– Lanu herself repaired and sometimes repaired her work, but we decided that the openings, the artist’s footprint and the methods could be visible.

Large * Life in Finnish Forests * installation was held in -40 degrees Celsius for a week before it was brought into the showroom.

– Traditional cleaning would have broken it. Natural materials may also have pests and molds, so we minimize the risk.

The deformation exhibition will open to the public on Saturday.

In June, the Spring Kohina section, built in Orimattila, will continue the Malva Olavi Lanu anniversary program as part of the Orimattila Art Museum Summer Exhibition.