Pushing The Boundaries - Master goldsmith Matti Hyvärinen retrospective 9.12.2021 - 13.1.2022

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.

Matti Hyvärinen is among the most productive and internationally best known Finnish contemporary jewelry designers and artists. Most of Hyvärinen’s significant career achievements took place while he was working for Sirokoru, the company he founded in 1958. He is a contemporary and friend of other well-known Turku based artists and designers such as Jorma Laine, Elis Kauppi, Pentti Sarpaneva.

Hyvärinen was quite early on aiming for the international stage and market. Taking part in the Malmö jewelry fair in 1965 was the first stop on a route that took Hyvärinen and his company to more than 100 events in Europe, America and Asia. There was even a detour to the Moon on the way!

In his book Muototaiteen vapaaottelija (2015), Matti Hyvärinen describes how around 15 Finnish companies and artists are to thank for creating real international buzz around Finnish jewelry in the 1960s and 1970s. For the active sportsman, winning the prestigious ”Diamond Oscar” competition where 2500 jewelry artists took part in 1967, was akin to hitting a home run in a season final. Matti Hyvärinen won the Diamonds International Award with his brooch The Rich and the Poor. The eyecatching piece of rough natural stone, gold and diamonds was unforeseen in its radical combination of materials and delivered a strong artistic message.

Other manifestations of versatile handicraft skills include honorary mentions in Tokyo 1983 with work Frutti Di Mare highlighting pollution of coastal waters and in Los Angeles 1987 for bracelet Scifi I that depicted an imaginary space station orbiting the Earth.

NASA Space Museum in Houston has on display moon themed gold jewelry made by Hyvärinen. He sent the jewelry to the American astronauts to celebrate the Moon landings.

What made Matti Hyvärinen so special? His daughter Tiina Lundén says:

– First of all, his designs. He used radical combinations of materials – such as granite with gold and diamonds or pearls. This was unforeseen in the 1960s when jewellery design was still quite traditional. Matti was also one of the pioneers in Finland to use the lost wax casting technique. His input in making Finnish jewellery design known worldwide was crucial in the 1960s and 1970s. Winning the ”Diamonds Oscar” competition in 1967 skyrocketed his international career. His designs gained popularity abroad, especially in Scandinavia, Germany, The Netherlands and the U.S.A. He made thousands of original designs by hand. He was not only a goldsmith but a passionate sculptor and painter. His sketches are delicate and precise – art works per se. Matti’s 60 years long career is exceptional. He created his last works of art when he was 80 years old, a few months before he passed away. He was commissioned to create a series of Salvador Dalí inspired silver and gold cutlery for an art gallery. His life work is summarized in the series, his love for arts, his vision and talent, and also his sense of humour.