Exhibition

Early Lines, Lasting Echoes

Dates

12 June – 16 July 2025

Location

Gallery GAo ShAn

Snellmaninkatu 15
00170 Helsinki
Finland

In 1950, the renowned Italian designer Gio Ponti described in the foreword to the Ornamo Yearbook (1950–1954): Architects and artists around the world hold Finland in high esteem. In Finnish art and craft—both as a whole and in its details—we recognize a perfection of form, mastery of craftsmanship, impeccable taste, and a thoughtful consideration of effect.

In the exhibition Early Lines, Lasting Echoes, the concept of origin—whether personal or collective—takes center stage. Each artist’s work stems from a formative period, where their foundational artistic language began to emerge. This exhibition does not retrospectively celebrate success, but instead reflects on how artistic voice, material engagement, and spatial sensitivity begin to define themselves—quietly yet powerfully.

Gallery GAo ShAn has selected Finnish artworks and design objects from the 1930s to the present. Together, they form a conversation between time and history, housed within a space layered with its own past.

Artist Introductions

Aino Favén
Jewelry and fiber artist Aino Favén’s willow works from the 1990s embody an organic, rhythmic sensibility. Created at a time when material-based practices were not yet widely embraced in contemporary art, these works carry a quiet radicalism. In later years, Favén shifted entirely to synthetic materials such as plastic, making these early works especially resonant.

Pekka Paikkari
Paikkari’s ceramic bottle works from the 1980s explore early relationships with fragility, containment, and volume. Far from decorative, these are conceptual objects, their early forms pointing to a decades-long inquiry that continues to this day—examples of which are now held in the collection of the V&A Museum.

Didi NG Wing Yin
As the youngest of the featured artists, Didi NG Wing Yin’s wooden sculptures represent an emerging voice in contemporary sculpture. Although created in the early stages of his career, these works display distinctive character—intentional, rooted in tradition, and attuned to the spirit of our time. He was selected as one of the 25 finalists for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize 2025.

Werner West
The exhibition includes chairs designed in the 1930s by Werner West, one of the founding members of the Finnish design association Ornamo. The “3874” chair is both practical and symbolic—a link to the origins of institutional Finnish design and a literal “seat of origin” in a space of artistic beginnings. Originally, the chairs were used by elevator attendants in one of Finland’s leading department stores.

Eva Anttila
A painted tapestry sketch by textile designer Eva Anttila from the 1950s reflects a moment when textile art began to take expressive and artistic form. Anttila’s work contributed significantly to the elevation of textile as a medium within Finnish modernism.

Oiva Parviainen
A cabinet by furniture designer Oiva Parviainen from the 1960s demonstrates architectural sensitivity in proportion and volume. The object’s quiet formal presence invites reflection on the spatial language of domestic design.

All things have an origin—something we perceive, come to know, and eventually recognize and value. This is how they reach their peak. In revisiting the early works of these artists and the objects of past eras, we rediscover the enduring beauty of form—even when imperfect. Looking back, we are still moved, still surprised.

Let us invite you to experience the Finnish language of materials—a quiet power shaped by hand and rooted in nature—to restore your spirit.