Katja Tukiainen | The Name of the Colour is the GIRL

Snow is delighted to present The Name of the Color is the GIRL, the first solo exhibition by Katja Tukiainen at Snow and in Berlin.

The title of my exhibition is The Name of the Color is the GIRL. I have dealt with the meaning of the word “girl” and the symbolism of pink tones in my exhibitions since the 90s.

My doctoral thesis for Fine Arts at the Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts is titled The Girl Army - Narrative Painting in Space. My research, conducted by painting and writing, was completed in 2022. Girl is not a swear word, not all girls are pink, and rose is a different color than pink.

My first solo exhibition in Berlin is not only about color and girls. It is also about landscape and idleness. Painting the exhibition is a process of reflection, change and thoughts running wild on the canvas. - Katja Tukiainen

Biography

Katja Tukiainen was born in 1969 in Pori, Finland (Latin: Arctopolis). Her strong and soulful grandmother lived with her family, practicing yoga and oil painting. Young Katja followed the path of her granny and started to study both.

Katja gained recognition for her pink girl paintings and comics already by the end of 1990’s. Katja’s painted degree for the Doctor of Fine Arts at The Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki is called The Girl Army: Narrative Painting in Space. Katja’s girl gang speaks to you in her paintings and installations. She paints with oil on linen but also uses spray paint as an ode to the paintings she made as a rebellious teen. The girls in her paintings are both innocent and sassy, and she wants to create places of open-minded humanity with her paintings.

Katja's paintings and installations have been regularly exhibited outside of Finland, but this is her first solo exhibition in Berlin.