Aki Turunen (b. 1983) lives and works in Helsinki. He graduated with an MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, in 2011. Turunen has also studied painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Turunen’s paintings are based on a combination of intuitive, subconscious imagery and a deep knowledge of art history. Turunen’s interest in tradition causes the artist to position himself strongly in the continuum both in his choices of materials and the imagery he deals with. By shaping traditional tools such as tempera painting to his own use and combining a personal narrative to images drawn from history, Turunen approaches a shared human experience and an omnipresent history. The recurring figures in his paintings are often both symbolic and mythological. Turunen has dealt in his work with, for example, enigmatic snakes and dragons, volcanoes, butterflies, mysterious moonlight, rainbows and floral motifs. In his work, Turunen strives for openness and permissiveness, which results in the delicate, clear strokes of the finished paintings.
Solo and group exhibitions include Helsinki Contemporary, Helsinki (2025, 2022, 2020); Alice Folker Gallery, Copenhagen (2024); SCHWARZ Contemporary, Berlin (2023, 2022); Kluuvi Gallery, Helsinki (2015); Galleria Forum Box, Helsinki (2014, 2013); Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen (2011), and Kunsthal Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition, Copenhagen (2011). His works are, among others, in the collections of Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and the Finnish State Art Commission. In autumn 2021, the Finnish Art Society awarded Turunen a William Thuring designated prize.