<p>Hannu Väisänen is one of the most internationally respected contemporary Finnish artists. A painter and graphic artist, he is also an acclaimed writer, stage designer and director. Väisänen was widely recognised for his illustrations for the 150th anniversary edition of the Finnish national epic <i>Kalevala </i>in 1999. His visual oeuvre reveals an exquisite sense of colour and a love of experiment, for instance with surface structures. Väisänen often works serially, exploring a theme in depth, which in turn leads him to new sources of inspiration. Sometimes, he arranges everyday objects in singular compositions that he first photographs before painting them. Väisänen’s imagery unites abstraction with figuration, the straight-forward with the enigmatic. Hannu Väisänen was educated at the Nyslott Art High School and at the Finnish Art Academy in Helsinki.</p>

Art work: Hannu Väisänen, Idées Heureuses, 2001

Art work: Hannu Väisänen, The Sediment of Creation, 1994

Art work: Hannu Väisänen, Und Gott sprach..., 1994

Art work: Hannu Väisänen, Beginning, 1994

Art work: Hannu Väisänen, The Sediment of Creation II, 1994

Art work: Hannu Väisänen, Sun Canopy Bed, 1994

Art work: Hannu Väisänen, The King’s Hall of the Sun, 1994

Art work: Hannu Väisänen, Blue Room, 1994

More works by the artist

Art work: Hannu Väisänen, Gott machte die Sterne gleichfalls 2, 1994