Maritta Nurmi
Born in NFYI in Finland
Living in Hanoi since 1993
Maritta first started her academic life as a scientist graduating in 1987 with a Master of Science (Biology), from Turku University & Abo Akademi then in 1989-93 she completed her degree at the Arts Academy at Turku University of Applied Sciences. In 1993 she moved to Hanoi, intrigued by the Vietnamese medium of lacquer she began to study this traditional technique that has informed much of her later work.
Noted for her richly detailed works of silver, aluminum and copper leaf on canvas, in recent years the artist continued along this path adding text and textile to accentuate her shimmering surfaces. Nurmi experiments with layered copper and silver leaf, as well as bright acrylic paints often burying her most expressive work beneath layers of these fragile, thin precious metals. Her use of the gold, copper and silver leaf produces an explosive energy, which radiates off the canvas. This energy, which is produced by the rigidity of pattern counterbalanced by the interplay of the silver leaf on top of the acrylic paint, is the momentum for her journey, for climbing the mountains and being with the Gods.
In 2010 for her solo exhibition After the End of Art Anything Goes, the artist took inspiration from Arthur C. Danto, the philosopher and art critic, who questioned where art would go once it lost all relation to narrative. Maritta Nurmi takes this same position: Anything goes. Freed from the constraints of making “Art” as it is currently conceived, Nurmi explored all sorts of media and objects, elevating the everyday and mundane into what we may call the zone of the sublime.
In 2014-15 Maritta participated in the Ceramics in Space exhibition at the Design museum in Helsinki and has been involved in many public art installations and projects in Finland and Vietnam. Also in 2015 the artist’s work was shown along with many prestigious luminaries in the group exhibition Unknown Territories – Works from the Matti Koivurinta Foundation art collection, Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum of History and Contemporary Art, Finland.
Nurmi continues to exhibit extensively in Vietnam and internationally, completing many public art projects and a solo exhibition in 2019 in Finland. She divides her time between Helsinki and her beloved Hanoi. The artist’s works are in public collections in the Aboa Vetus Museum, Turku, Finland, Wāinō Aaltonen Museum, Turku, Finland, the Hämeenlinna Art Museum, Finland, Nikko Hotel Hanoi, Vietnam and Prudential, Tokyo, Japan and in private collections worldwide.
1994 Hanoi Fine Arts University 1989-93 Arts Academy at Turku University of Applied Sciences 1987 Master of Science (Biology), Turku University & Abo Akademi
2019 what is this light, Poriginal Gallery, Pori, Finland
2013 ANIMA, Manzi Art Space, Hanoi
2012 Solo Exhibition Galleri Cupido Stockholm, Sweden
2011 Art Space Kustaa Hiekka, Laitila, Finland
2010 Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
2009 Gallery Nefret, Turku, Finland
2008 Gallery Uusitalo, Helsinki, Finland
2007 Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
2005 Titanik Gallery, Turku, Finland
2003 Numthong Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
2003 Sideshow Gallery, New York, USA
2002 Laitila City Hall, Laitila, Finland
2001 Nha San, Hanoi, Vietnam
2000 Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
1997 Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
1996 Sunset Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
1995 Joki Gallery, Turku, Finland
1994 43 Trang Tien Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
2015 Art for You, art fair, Saigon, Vietnam
2015 Seppa House, Honors for Visual Art, Rauma, Finland
2015 Unknown Territories – an exhibition presenting the Matti Koivurinta Foundation art collection, Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum of History and Contemporary Art, Finland
2014 A Woman’s View, Goethe-Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam
2012 The 9th Triennial of Finnish Textile Art, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, Turku, Finland
2012 Café Glaces Salon, Tonnerre, Bourgogne, France
2011 Billnäs Summer Show, Raasepori, Finland
2009 Art Vietnam Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
2008 ArtAsia Miami, Miami, USA – International Fair for Contemporary Asian Art
2006 Fielding Lecht Gallery, Austin, Texas, USA
2005 Bankside Gallery, London, Great Britain
2005 Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
2005 Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, Turku, Finland
2005 Hämeenlinna Art Museum, Hämeenlinna, Finland
2004 Dahlem Museum, Berlin, Germany
2004 National Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
2004 Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum, Hanoi, Vietnam (with Dinh Thi Tham Poong and Nguyen Bach Dan)
2004 Chiang Mai Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand2003 Alliance Française, Hanoi, Vietnam
2003 Transportale, Berlin, Germany
2002 Salo Art Museum, Salo, Finland
2001 Hämeenlinna Art Museum, Hämeenlinna, Finland
2000 Art Placement International, New York City, USA
1999 House of World Culture, Berlin, Germany
1999 Art Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (with Nguyen Cam and Phan Cam Thuong)
1999 Pacific Bridge Gallery, Oakland, USA (with Nguyen Cam and Phan Cam Thuong)
1998 Arts of Pacific Asia, New York City, USA
1998 The Spirit of Hanoi – traveling exhibition organized by Salon Natasha in collaboration with 18 artists from Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland: Visual Center, Oulu, Finland; Gallery Bau, Helsinki, Finland
1997 The 12th Asian International Art Exhibition, Macao
1995 Hämeenlinna Art Museum, Hämeenlinna, Finland (with Minna Haukka and Gun Holmström)
1994 Cultural Center, Uusikaupunki, Finland (with Minna Haukka and Gun Holmström)
1994 Porvoo Art Hall, Porvoo, Finland (with Minna Haukka and Gun Holmström)
1994–2004 Salon Natasha, Hanoi, Vietnam
1994–1995 Gallery Titanik, Turku, Finland
1993 City Hall of Raisio, Raisio, Finland (with Minna Haukka, Marika Kaarna, and Johanna Ilvessalo)
1992 Brinkkala Gallery, Turku, Finland
1991 Artist Association of Turku, Turku, Finland
