Information
Artist and year
Kari Huhtamo, 1988.
Collection
Collection of the Kari Huhtamo Art Foundation
Technology, Materials and Size
Steel, 68 x 35 x 235 cm
Description
For Kari Huhtamo, outline is always more important than the body of the sculpture. This is evident in all his works but it is particularly clear in sculptures like Blissful, made of thin steel tube. You can see sculptures like this as drawings made in space, line constructions that the mirrorlike shine of the material renders almost ethereal at times.
Kari Huhtamo is often categorised as a constructivist. It is also true that he composes his works using the basic elements of abstract art – lines, angles, and arcs. His emphasis on outline and drawing, however, evokes certain imagery and numerous interpretations, among which the human figure or an experience in the nature is never far-fetched.
On the other hand, you can see elements of the 20th century modernism in Huhtamo’s constructions: consider the playfulness of Paul Klee or Joan Miró mixed with the rationality of functionalism or the adornments of art deco.
