American Craft House Journey 15 August – 5 October 2024
The exhibition "American Craft House Journey" at Gallery GAo ShAn offers a rare opportunity to explore the vibrant world of contemporary American decorative arts. Featuring the works of six contemporary American artists—Arielle Brackett, Christine Clark, Kelly Dzioba, Luci Jockel, Nash Quinn, and Mallory Weston—this exhibition presents an array of mobile sculptures, contemporary jewelry, and textile art. Innovative approaches and exceptional craftsmanship define the works.
Making Natural Sense 27 June – 27 July 2024
"Making Natural Sense," a solo exhibition that celebrates the nuanced artistry of acclaimed artist Didi NG Wing Yin. Born in Hong Kong and having resided in Helsinki for several years, Didi holds a master’s degree in interior architecture from Aalto University. His dual heritage profoundly influences his artistic vision, which is rooted in the dialogue between the manmade and the natural.
Together: Poetic Asian Hands 21.03 - 16.05.2024
Gallery GAo ShAn introduces an exceptional cultural experience to Helsinki's art scene with the exhibition "Together: Poetic Asian Hands," featuring eleven experienced artists from Asia.
The exhibition's core is a dialogue between Eastern aesthetics and Nordic design, offering a new perspective on artistic appreciation and demonstrating how diverse cultural influences can merge to create something unique and memorable. "Together: Poetic Asian Hands" draws inspiration from Finland's historical connections to the international art scene, recalling exhibitions related to Asia organized by Artek gallery, such as the Japan exhibition in 1958 and the Chinese Markets in 1975 and 1981.
Art Dual: From Interior to Body Waves 01.02.2024 -14.03.2024
You are welcome to explore the works of skilled decorative artists from interior art to contemporary jewelry. The exhibition artists are: Terhi Tolvanen, Inni Pärnänen, Wiebke Pandikow, Tuija Hietanen, Minna Markkanen, Melitina Balabin, Elina Honkanen, Elli Hukka and Matti Hyvärinen.
The diverse pieces showcased in the upcoming exhibition challenge conventional perceptions of jewelry, suggesting that pieces of jewelry need not be solely practical, simple, or small. Visitor may also ponder whether contemporary jewelry pieces are inherently noteworthy, so-called "statement jewelry". There isn't a universally accepted Finnish equivalent for the English term.
Art Dual: Finnish Craftsmanship and Vintage Charms 23.11.2023 - 16.01.2024
The idea of sustainability is not really new in the sphere of art and design. It has been manifested in various types of environmentally conscious indigenous art, for example. Nowadays beautiful, also functional decorative art items are passed on from generation to generation, in synch with the ideal of sustainability.
You are exploring the works of skilled decorative artists alongside vintage art objects in a bright end of the year exhibition. On display are contemporary jewelry, ceramics, wood art, and textile art by artists Minttu Somervuori, Kirsti Doukas, Susanna & Tobias Feuerbacher, Heli Savila, Janne Peltokangas, Wing Yin, Tytti Lindström, Heidi Linsen and Jaana Junkkaala.
Bitten by Finland – Three International Takes on Our Nature 21.07.-30.09.2023
Three experienced European jewelry artists, Ralph Bakker, Monika Brugger, and Terhi Tolvanen, all share a significant, experience-based connection to Finnish nature. For Finns, the local nature may be even taken for granted, but what does inspiration from nature experiences generate or sprout in the expression of a skilled jewelry artist?
From Private to Public – Yksityisestä julkiseksi
12. 05. – 11. 07. 2023
Finnish culture person, author and Oscar statue claimant Jörn Donner’s (1933-2020) private art collection items will be on display at Private to Public exhibition in Helsinki, Finland, in a new art & design space accompanied with Finnish international jewelry art 12 May to 11 July 2023.
Jörn Donner, a noteworthy culture person in Finland and Sweden, author of around 70 books, film director and producer as well as politician, collected art for around half a Century. His private art collection boasts works from significant Finnish artists. During his work tenure as Finland’s chief Consul in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s Donner was raising the profile of Finnish culture in the well-known cinema city.
The beginning of Donner’s art collecting coincided with the era when Finnish art and design started to gain international recognition and acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s. One of the highlights was the presentation of the Finnish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1956. The pavilion was designed by Alvar Aalto and received great attention and praise from the international audience. The exhibition gave Finnish artists and designers the opportunity to showcase their art and design skills internationally. → Learn more
Still Garden
Wiebke Pandikow Solo Exhibition
26. 01.–26. 02.2023
In the middle of the cold and dark of winter, here is a small, colorful garden. Gravel trails paths in subdued pinks and grays.
Bright leaves reach out from branches.
Vibrant moss and lichen creep over wood.
Tiny baskets lie empty, as if waiting for berries and flowers.
But all is quiet and unmoving. Nothing here has grown, but something discarded has been given a new life.
Notes About Nature – Loops out of Blue
Rare Finland solo exhibition by the internationally acclaimed contemporary jewelry artist Terhi Tolvanen in Helsinki at Gallery GAo ShAn: Notes about Nature – Loops out of Blue, Aug 18 to Oct 20 in 2022
The solo exhibition of internationally acclaimed Finnish contemporary jewelry artist Terhi Tolvanen will be on display at gallery GAo ShAn in the autumn. Tolvanen resides in France where she teaches at the National School of Art and Design, ENSA in Limoges. Her jewelry are included in the collections of Victoria & Albert Museum in London and Musée Des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. This will be her first solo exhibition in Finland for fifteen years.
Oozing Natural Skill – Contemporary jewelry and craft culture from Finland-Online version
The online exhibition “Oozing Natural Skill – Contemporary jewelry and craft culture from Finland” launched on May 1 on Powerlong Art Center's Wechat platform.
Pushing The Boundaries - Master goldsmith Matti Hyvärinen retrospective
9.12.2021 - 30.1.2022
Pushing The Boundaries – retrospective exhibition of Finland’s first Goldsmith of the Year Matti Hyvärinen (1937-2017) draws a picture of an award-winning international career through original sketches and works.
For the first time there will be a retrospective exhibition of goldsmith master Matti Hyvärinen’s life in Helsinki. Hyvärinen is the only Finn to have won the prestigious Diamonds International Award in 1967 and was the first nominated Goldsmith of the Year in Finland in 1987. The exhibition at Gallery Gao Shan December 9 to January 13 features more than 100 precious original sketches by Matti Hyvärinen, jewelry items and sculptures that have won international awards. Some of the content has never previously been shown to the public.
Vuoden Kaunein Sormus 2021
20.-28.10.2021
Finland’s Most Beautiful Ring competition has been running 14 year in collaboration between I Love Me fair and Häät-media. This year we are organizing a exhibition together for the finalists. There are 10 highly skill craft ring and Finnish jewelry designers in the final. They are Petri Eklöf, Thomas Narsakka, Pia-Mari Jull, Christoffer Nyström, Anu Kaartinen, Kristian Saarikorpi, Jouni Saarenpää, Heidi Vornan, Tero Hannonen, Vesa Nilsson.
“The Glass Bead Game / J e w e l l e r y E s s e n c e”
“The Glass Bead Game / J e w e l l e r y E s s e n c e” is an exhibition at the gallery GAo ShAn that presents the works of Finnish jewellery artists and designers in the field of Art&Fine Jewellery – Inni Pärnänen, Elina Honkanen, Vesa Nilsson, Tiina Arkko, Pekka Kulmala, Irene Sema, Ville Redman, Petri and Annika Eklöf – as well as works by the artists Ian Bourgeot and Jaakko Heikinheimo.
The title of the exhibition is a direct reference to “The Glass Bead Game”, the novel by Hermann Hesse. The book describes a very old game. The history of jewellery is likewise ancient. Each of the pieces exhibited function as a key to a story told in photographic images.
GAo ShAn × Design Shanghai 2021
Works of 18 Finnish jewelry artists and designers will be exhibited in one of the world's most prestigious international design events in Asia, at Design Shanghai 2021 held June 3–6, in a project funded by SKR (Finnish Cultural Foundation), Frame Art Finland, Korutaideyhdistys ry and Gallery GAo ShAn. Finnish contemporary jewelry has not been exhibited in China on this scale previously.
Zoom in - Contemporary Finnish art jewelry
Zoom in - Contemporary Finnish art jewelry exhibition presents 13 talented Finnish jewellery artists in an event that also acts as a satellite exhibition for participation in Design Shanghai 2021 fair. The exhibition is a co-operation between the Finnish Jewellery Art Association and Gallery GAo ShAn.
BALANCE - Inni Pärnänen
2.-31.12.2020
To be balanced, to balance in between, to balance.
Outshining Darkness - Finnish contemporary jewelry
Our first online exhibition: Outshining Darkness - Finnish contemporary jewelry exhibition was held in Instagram from 29 May to 20 June. Originally we were set to arrange this exhibition, connected to our Design Shanghai project, in February. The pandemic situation postponed our plans.
The aim to provide visual inspiration into days that can otherwise pass by as a rather monotonous film.
Precious Plastic – Jewelry made from recycled plastic bags
1.11.–30.11. 2019
Finland based Germany jewelry artist Wiebke Pandikow has worked on plastic bags since 2014 and has developed a technique to turn used plastic bags into jewelry art with the help of a clothes iron and a soldering iron. This process happens by hand from start to finish, thus being very much grounded in the diligence and patience of traditional craftwork. The pieces shown are predominantly this year's production.
Four seasons – Emotional jewelry
9.8. - 28.9. 2019
Finns’ inner emotions bubble to the surface in this striking exhibition of newly created Finnish jewelry art at Four Seasons - Emotional jewelry exhibition.
This exhibition brings together the works of 18 Finnish jewelry artists, allowing the artists and audience alike to connect with their true emotions through expressive jewelry art that is mostly previously unseen.
1 + 2 In matter - Sculpted minds
14.02. 2019 – 30. 3. 2019
The first 1+2 exhibition organized by gallery Gao Shan: In Matter – Sculpted Minds runs from February 15 to March 30. The exhibition presents famous Finnish jewelry artist Jorma Laine's life story through several previously unseen photos from the family album alongside selected exhibits of his jewelry. Two young Finnish jewelry designers, Marika Tiukkanen and Sanna Nuutinen, present their art jewelry in the exhibition.
Hidden Gems - Made to Awe
Grand opening exhibition 2.11. 2018 – 10. 12. 2018
Works by four significant Finnish jewelry designers adorn the opening exhibition of the new Gao Shan gallery that specialises in jewelry art and design. Exhibition Hidden Gems – Made to Awe features jewelry artists Eero Hintsanen, Chao-Hsien Kuo, Heli Kauhanen and Harri Syrjänen. Jewelry creations and visual created by curator Ding Yi tell stories about life here in Finland.