Ongoing

Heikki Mäki-Tuuri: One of a Kind

Paintings

25.1.2025 – 25.5.2025

Heikki Mäki-Tuuri (b. Tuuri 1947) studied at the Kankaanpää Art School (1966–68) and the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts (1968–72). He is an expressive painter who uses mainly oil and tempera, but also watercolour and acrylic. According to Markku Valkonen, Mäki-Tuuri had developed an original form of expressionism already in the 1970s, before the style came into vogue in Finland.

In his works, Mäki-Tuuri often depicts local life – although often in a slightly modified way. In addition, he is attracted to current issues and phenomena. The work August was inspired by Ylistaro, where the grain fields of late summer glowed yellow. The figure painted in the landscape, the “altered truth” of the work, is a colourful Wolt driver on a moped. Mäki-Tuuri was inspired to create the character when he came across a news article about the Wolt founder’s enormous wealth.

Mäki-Tuuri’s paintings are large picture stories characterised by exaggerations and surprising opposites. He is a mystifier of rural life, milieu and customs, in whose works the past and present meet. Although Mäki-Tuuri usually paints the countryside, the message of the images is universal.

Heikki Mäki-Tuuri’s works have been exhibited extensively. He has had solo exhibitions at K. H. Renlund, Lapua, Oulu and Rauma art museums, as well as at the Nelimarkka Museum in Alajärvi. His works have been included in international touring and group exhibitions in the Nordic countries, Germany, Russia, Canada, the USA, and other countries. Mäki-Tuuri’s works are included in the collections of K. H. Renlund, Ostrobothnia and Wäinö Aaltonen museums, as well as several Finnish cities, municipalities and companies.

Mäki-Tuuri has been a member of the Non Art and Sisu teams, and he has taught at Kankaanpää Art School, Seinäjoki Adult Education Centre and other institutions.

The artist exhibition fee is subsidized by the National Board of Antiquities.