FROM THE SERIES KUVA, UNTITLED
Kati Tuominen Niittylä
Born in 1947, Helsinki.
She studied at the University of Art and Design Helsinki and has held a studio at the Arabia factory since 1980, where she works as an artist and designer.
Her unique pieces are objects almost without exceptions. They are memories, observations as well as sentiments. She preserved the figure of a vessel, although the feelings come from nature. She likes the minimalistic structure on the surface of the works and the form languages with small gestures create a quiet whole.
Since the firing of clay has long and strong traditions, she wants to bring her works to this day side by side with modern materials and as part of modern architecture and interior design preserving their ceramic nature. Together with her husband she practice the art of Japanese archery (kyudo). She has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Finland and Europe as well as America, Japan and Korea. Her minimalistic and timeless language of forms appears in several serial production products and unique art works.
One of the latest Arabia’s success story – the KoKo series – is a result of Kati’s and Kristina Riska’s creative co-operation. Kati has received the Grand Prix, honorary mention and the Gold Medal in Mino, Japan. For Kati, a common thread in all her work is simplicity.
The forms she uses are inspired by the archetypal shapes of buckets, sieves, bowls and baskets still found on some farms, with solid, flat, bottoms and rounded handles. Her high-fired, often coarse stoneware clay, either thrown or hand-built, appears almost geological. And yet the surfaces, patinated with colouring oxides or carved with tools, revel in a sophisticated interplay of colours and textures.
COLLECTIVE SHOWS
2015
Collect, International Art Fair, Officine Saffi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2014
SOFA CHICAGO, Art Fair, Officine Saffi Gallery, Chicago, USA
Collect, International Art Fair, Officine Saffi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2013
SOFA CHICAGO, Art Fair, Officine Saffi Gallery, Chicago, USA
Pyhaniemi summer exhibition, Lahti, Finland
Cheongju International Craft Biennale, Korea
2012
Arabia’s 9th floor, Gallery Arabia, Helsinki, Finland
MIC, Helsinki Fat Clay, Faenza, Italy
Gallerie Officine Saffi, Helsinki Fat Clay, Milan, Italy
Flow Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2011
Gallery Angelo, Pori, Finland
Helsinki Art Fair, Helsinki, Finland
2010
Galerie Marianne Heller, Heidelberg, Germany
Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Höhr-Grenzhausen, Germany
2009
Signals, Gallery Flow, London, United Kingdom
Gallery Besson, London, United Kingdom
Danske Keramisk Museum, Mitterfart, Denmark
2008
Collect Art Fair, Flow Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Gallery Oljemark, Helsinki, Finland
Art Fair, Wanha Satama, Helsinki, Finland
2007
Gallery Goed Werk, Zulte, Belgium
The Intern. Art + Design Fair, New York, USA
2006
Collect Art Fair, Flow Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Septaria Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
The Intern. Art + Design Fair, New York, USA
Fiskars, Finland
Forum Box, Helsinki, Finland
2005
Scandinavian Stylish Design: Arabia Ware in Finland, The Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shigaraki, Japan
2004
A Touch of Finland, Flow-Gallery, London & Antrim, Northern Ireland
Ceramics 2004, European Ceramics, Fiskars, Finland
Syvällä Savessa, Finnish Handicraft Museum, Jyväskylä, Finland
Gallery Philippe Denys, Brussels, Belgium
2003
Retro, Fiskars, Finland
2002
Kosketuskohta, Gallery Laterna Magica, Helsinki, Finland
2000
Arabia artists in Retretti, Retretti Art Center, Punkaharju, Finland
Keramik, Höganäs Museum, Sweden
Finnish Glass Lives 4, Glass Museum of Finland, Riihimäki, Finland
Gallery Norby, Copenhagen, Denmark
Viewpoints II, Arabia Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
Galleri Norby, Copenhagen, Denmark
10 from Finland, Gallery Mokkumto, Seoul, Korea
SOLO SHOWS
2011
Gallery Inger Molin, Stockholm, Sweden
2008
Kaj Franck-prize exhibition, Gallery Modus, Tampere, Finland
2007
Kaj Franck-prize exhibition, Design Forum, Helsinki, Finland
2003
Shadows, Alvar Aalto Museum Gallery, Jyväskylä, Finland
Gallery Inger Molin, Stockholm, Sweden
2001
Angle of Vision II, Arabia Museum Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
A thing of beauty
Rose Cabat, Hans Coper, Keiji Ito, Yasuhisa Kohyama, Kazuhito Nagasawa, Lucie Rie, Päivi Rintaniemi, Shingo Takeuchi, Kati Tuominen-Niittylä, Nanni Valentini, Carlo Zauli
From 22 May 2019 to 28 September 2019
Morfologia delle Meraviglie
Morten Løbner Espersen, Paolo Gonzato, Kiasmo + Antonio Marras, Torbjørn Kvasbø, Loredana Longo, Shozo Michikawa, Johannes Nagel, Irina Razumovskaya, Alessandro Roma, Anders Herwald Ruhwald, Kati Tuominen-Niittylä
From 21 July 2019 to 18 August 2019
Contemporary Ceramics
From 18 November 2015 to 5 January 2016
