Eija-Liisa Ahtila facts for kids

Eija-Liisa Ahtila (born in 1959 in Hämeenlinna, Finland) is a modern artist and filmmaker. She lives and works in Helsinki, Finland.

Ahtila is famous for her art installations that use multiple video screens. She loves to experiment with how stories are told in her films and art setups. Her later works explore big ideas like how we see things and how we give them meaning. She also looks at larger cultural and life questions, such as colonialism (when one country takes control of another), faith, and posthumanism (ideas about what it means to be human in the future).

Ahtila has shown her art in many international exhibitions. These include Manifesta (1998), the Venice Biennale (1999 and 2005), documenta 11 (2002), São Paulo Art Biennial (2008), and the Sydney Biennale in 2002 and 2018.

She has won several awards for her art and films. Some of these are the first Vincent Award (2000), Artes Mundi (2006), and the Prince Eugen Medal (2008). In 2009, she was named an Art Academic in Finland.

Her artworks are kept in important collections, like the Tate in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She used to be a professor at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts (Finland).

Artistic Career

Eija-Liisa Ahtila's films are often described as smart and emotional. She is known for telling "human dramas." She uses many modern art techniques, but also a classic style called melodrama. Melodrama often exaggerates stories and characters to make viewers feel strong emotions. Ahtila uses this in a clever way to make her audience feel deeply, rather than just think about the art.

Early Works: Identity and Relationships

In 1993, Ahtila made three short films, each about 90 seconds long. These were called Me/We, Okay, and Gray. They were shown as a set, but also separately as movie trailers in cinemas, during TV commercials, and in art galleries. In these films, Ahtila explores questions about who we are and how people relate to each other. She uses ideas from movies, TV, and advertising to tell her stories.

• In Me/We, a father talks about his family. As he speaks, the other family members repeat his words. Their feelings and personalities seem to mix together.
• In Okay, a woman talks about violence in relationships. Her voice gets louder and more intense as she moves around like a caged animal.
• In Gray, three women in a lift go down into water. They talk about an atomic explosion and its effects. The words and pictures combine to show a feeling of identity crisis mixed with a big disaster.

Exploring Human Experience

In 2002, Ahtila created a film called The House. For this project, she talked to people who experience psychotic mental disorders. The film starts with a woman driving to a quiet house. As the story goes on, things become dreamlike. Sounds become confusing, and images start to blend. For example, the woman might see her car on the walls of the house, or hear boat horns that don't make sense. This film is shown on three separate screens, making viewers feel like they are actually inside the house where it was filmed.

Ahtila has had solo art shows at many famous museums. These include the Tate Modern in London (2002) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York (2006). She has also shown her work at the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

One of Ahtila's other important works is The Hour of Prayer. It was first shown in 2005 at the Venice Biennale in Italy. This film uses four video screens and shows scenes from a woman's life after her dog dies. The scenes are not in a clear story order, but they are all connected. Some scenes show how her dog fell through ice and broke its leg. Another shows the dog at the vet, where it is found to have bone cancer. After the dog passes away, the film shows the woman moving on with her life as an artist in Africa.

Another film, Where is Where?, came out in 2009. New York's Museum of Modern Art described it as a deep look at how history changes how we see reality. In the film, a modern-day poet, helped by a figure who represents death, investigates a murder from 50 years ago. Two young Arab boys had killed their French friend during the Algerian War of Independence. As the poet investigates, images from the past and present mix together. At one point, the poet finds the two boys sitting in a boat in his backyard swimming pool.

In 2011, Ahtila's exhibition horizontal was first shown at the Marian Goodman Gallery. This artwork uses six projectors to show a pine tree. Each projector shows a different part of the tree. Ahtila changes the tree's appearance by tilting the camera and using different colors for each projection.

Ahtila's films often focus on the inner feelings of one person, even if there are other characters. Her art explores how an individual's personal experiences are shaped by the world around them. She is very interested in how our identity is formed and how it can change. Ahtila wants to explore how our subconscious (the part of our mind we're not always aware of) is passed down. She gives an example: "the way in which my mother is physically present in myself and I am present in her."

Works

Installations

• Me/We, Okay, Grey (1993): A three-screen video setup with furniture.
• If 6 was 9 (1995): A three-screen projected artwork.
• Today (1996): A three-screen projected artwork.
• Anne, Aki and God (1998): A five-monitor and two-screen setup with furniture.
• Consolation Service (1999): A two-screen projected artwork.
• The Present (2001): A five-monitor setup with furniture.
• The House (2002): A three-screen projected artwork.
• The Wind (2002): A three-screen projected artwork.
• Sculpture in the Age of Posthumanism (2004): A sculpture that includes the person viewing it.
• The Hour of Prayer (2005): A four-screen projected artwork.
• Fishermen / Études N°1 (2007): A single-screen projected artwork.
• Where is Where? (2008): A six-screen projected artwork.
• The Annunciation (2010): A three-screen projected artwork.
• Horizontal (2011): A six-screen projected artwork.
• Studies on the Ecology of Drama (2014): A four-screen projected artwork.
• Potentiality for Love (2018): An artwork that mixes sculpture with moving images.

Films

• Me/We, Okay, and Gray (1993): Three 90-second mini-films shown as a trilogy and separately. They explored identity and group relations.
• If 6 was 9 (1995)
• Today (1996): Won an Honorable Mention in 1998.
• Consolation Service (1999): Received a prize at the Venice Biennale.
• Love is a Treasure (2002)
• The Hour of Prayer (2005)
• Where is Where? (2008)
• The Annunciation (2010)
• Studies on the Ecology of Drama (2017)

Awards

• 2006: Artes Mundi, Wales International Visual Arts Prize, Cardiff, UK.
• 2009: Title of Academician of Art, given by the President of Finland, Helsinki, Finland.

See also

In Spanish: Eija-Liisa Ahtila para niños