Persten

Eat&Joy serigraphy Walt Disney Biscuterie, made by Mikko Ijäs, is an essential part of his wide collection of work called Vincent van Gogh and Walt Disney Collection. This new piece, commissioned by Eat&Joy, gives a picture of Walt Disney as a French gourmet cookie factory owner instead of the film producer and innovator as we all know him.

The collection Vincent van Gogh and Walt Disney by Mikko Ijäs handles with artists’ identities through two examples. Vincent van Gogh represents a romantic and suffering genius, whereas Walt Disney can be seen as an artist, but also a successful businessman.

These works of Mikko Ijäs are called a collection to avoid the pieces to be considered expressive pieces of art, as a result of the artist’s self expression. The meaning of the collection is to raise questions about a piece of art being a fetish-like collector’s piece and an ingenious exception from worshipping an artist.

Mikko Ijäs is a doctorate student of art at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, the School of Visual Culture, where he also finished his MA degree in 2006. Vincent van Gogh and Walt Disney Collection is an artistic part of his doctorate degree.

Mikko Ijäs’s works are a part of many art collections and his works have also been exhibited in many private and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad.

Mikko Ijäs lives and works in Helsinki.

www.mikkoijas.com

CURRICULUM VITAE
Born May 26th 1978 in Jyvaskyla, Finland
Lives and works in Helsinki, Finland

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
2010
Galerie Maud Piquion (together with Mika Karhu), Berlin (Germany)
Gallery Studio 77 (together with Andries Fourie and Nicky Marais), Windhoek (Namibia)
Galerie Maud Piquion, Weimar (Germany)
Kerava Art Museum, Kipu/Pain, curated by Mika Karhu, Kerava

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010 Gallery Maaret Finnberg (together with Mika Karhu and Jan Kennet Weckman), Turku
2008 Anyway Gallerie, Berlin, Germany
2007 Krista Mikkola’s Studio, Helsinki
2006 Kummigallery, Oulu
2006 Gallery Mania, Tampere (Invitation show)
2005 Jyvaskyla Art Museum, Jyvaskyla (Invitation show)
2005 Gallery Parasit3, Helsinki
2004 Gallery Titanik, Turku
2003 The Attic Gallery Brinkkala, Turku

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2010 Ludwig Museum, curated by Mikko Ijäs and Mika Karhu, Koblenz (Germany)
2009 Kunsthalle, Young Artists, Helsinki
2009 Tulipamwe, Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre, Windhoek (Namibia)
2009 Tulipamwe, Goethe Centre, Windhoek (Namibia)
2009 Trickle-down Theory, curated by Riiko Sakkinen, Gallery Korjaamo, Helsinki
2008 Fennofolk - New Nordic Oddity, curated by Paola Suhonen, Design Museum, Helsinki
2007 Conversations, curated by Cécile Marie, Kerava Art Museum, Kerava
2007 Mänttä Art Festival, curated by Jani Leinonen, Mänttä
2006 Bomarzo a Bomarzo - Arte Contemporanea, Palazzo Orsini, Bonarzo, Italy
2006 Art Fair Suomi, Cable Factory, Helsinki
2006 Helsinki International 06, curated by Timo Valjakka, Tram Museum, Helsinki
2006 Art Supermarket Pikasso, Helsinki
2006 Välillä on väriä, Jyväskylä Art Museum,  Jyväskylä
2006 En ole täällä yksin, curated by Heli Hiltunen, Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki
2006 Futuro Presento – Nuove Creatività del Mondo, Federcultura, Rome, Italy
2006 Masters of Arts 2006, Lume Centre, Helsinki
2005 Christmas Mania, Gallery Mania, Tampere
2005 Art Fair Suomi, Cable Factory, Helsinki
2004 Manifest05, Gallery Korjaamo, Helsinki
2004 Nelja, curated by Jari Silomaki, Taidepanimo, Lahti
2004 Elama, curated by Anna Vilkuna, VB-Photographic Centre, Kuopio
2004 Stockholm Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden
2003 Joku Paiva, The Lonnstrom Art Museum, Rauma
2001 Kaari, Gallery Manilla, Turku
2001 Photographers of Central Finland, curated group exhibition, Gallery Harmonia, Jyvaskyla

RESIDENCIES and Workshops
2009 Tulipamwe international artists workshop, Okakarara (Namibia)
2003 Polaroid 20x24 Studio, New York (USA)

WORKS IN COLLECTIONS
Polaroid 20x24 Studio, New York (USA)
Finnish Embassy, Windhoek (Namibia)
Arts College of Namibia, Windhoek (Namibia)
Collection of Jyväskylä Art Museum, Jyväskylä
The Foundation of Teresia ja Rafael Lonnstrom, Rauma
University of Turku
Private Collections, Finland, France, Namibia, Spain, Switzerland

EDUCATION
2007– Doctor of Arts student, University of Art and Design (visual culture), Helsinki
2009 Studies on Neuropsychology, University of Helsinki
2006 Master of Arts, University of Art and Design (visual culture), Helsinki
2004 Bachelor of Arts, Turku Arts Academy (photography), Turku

GRANTS
2008 the Finnish Cultural Foundation, 3-year working grant for doctoral dissertation work
2008 Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, grant for foreign exhibitions
2007 Arts Council of Helsinki Metropolitan Region
2006 Kesko Arts Student Stipend
2005 the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Arts Counscil of Helsinki Metropolitan Region
2005 Arts Council of Helsinki Metropolitan Region
2005 The Central Association of Finnish Photographic Organizations
2003 the Finnish Cultural Foundation

MEMBERSHIPS
2005 – The Union of Artist Photographers
2006 – Kiila Ry
2009 – The Union of Researchers