Kari Huhtamo (11 January 1943 – 1 March 2023) was a Finnish sculptor. He was born in

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

, Finland. He studied at the School of Industrial Art and the School of the Finnish Art Academy 1961–1964 and lived and worked in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

since 1961. Although his main activity was making sculpture, Kari Huhtamo also made

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

silk screens Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mes ...

and textile works, medals and

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

. In the early years of his career he used wood, light concrete and second-hand materials for his sculptures, and later aluminium, plastic and

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

. From the 1970s onwards his primary material had nevertheless been acid-proof

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

. One of the first

public sculpture Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically access ...

s by Kari Huhtamo is the Monument to the Reconstruction of

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

in 1945–1955 in

, for which he received a commission in 1969. Since the mid- 1970s he has designed many public sculptures, received numerous commissions and has won prizes and awards in sculpture competitions. Besides having been exhibited in Finland, his sculpture has been shown in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In 2009 he was the first Finnish sculptor to have a one-man exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia. In 2010 he was the first sculptor to exhibit on the grounds of

Kultaranta Kultaranta ( sv, Gullranda; ) is the summer residence of the president of Finland. It is in the district of Kultaranta on the island of Luonnonmaa, in Naantali. The granite manor house is surrounded by of park, belonging to the property. The ...

, the summer residence of the Finnish

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

in Naantali, Finland.

References

* Kari Huhtamo: Kuvanveistäjä, Pohjoinen Publishers, 1991, * Kari Huhtamo, text: Timo Valjakka, photography: Jussi Tiainen, Helsinki, Otava Publishers, 1999, * Huhtamo: Variato arctica sculptura, text: Timo Valjakka. photography: Jussi Tiainen, exhibition Variato arctica sculptura, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, 2009, Helsinki, Parvs Publishers, 2009,

External links

huhtamo.com
– official site of the sculptor
tretyakov-huhtamo.com/
– official site of the exhibition ХУХТАМО МЕТАМОРФОЗЫ АРКТИКА СКУЛЬПТУРА (HUHTAMO VARIATIO ARCTICA SCULPTURA) of the sculptor in the Tretyakov Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Huhtamo, Kari 1943 births Living people People from Rovaniemi 20th-century Finnish sculptors 21st-century Finnish sculptors