Jiri Geller
1970 - B. Works and lives in Helsinki
jiri@jirigeller.com
Like an anarchist who has studied every stitch and fold of the banker's suit, Jiri Geller models and subverts the iconic forms of contemporary culture with vengeful precision.
While - not inaccurately - self-defining as "an outsider, a punk rocker", Geller is also the rare Finnish artist who has both managed to stay close to Finnish aesthetic strengths and traditions and also detonate his own unique brand of post-national, mind-fucker nihilism.
As a Finn, Geller's work perfectly fits that grey Nordic outpost's proud, tragic tradition. His sculptures are elemental and essential, fascinated with death and violence, critical of the fake and phony, and ever aware of just how dark the world can be.
But then, rather than being limited by his roots - or in denial of them, Geller keeps to this impeccable conceptual framework, and takes it global.
While never repeating himself, Geller targets the same territory again and again to explore the idea that what in our modern world is deemed solid, permanent and valuable is in fact melting, suspect, and utterly transitory.
Geller's objects offer meaning despite their solidity and materiality. A pessimistic yet playful - at times quite profound - energy flows through them: escalators connect one to nowhere; fiberglass tsunamis promise leisure sport and/or death by flood; ice cream cones sit frozen in mid-melt next to exquisite skulls that melt and drip like butterscotch candies in the sun.
It's rare to see such playfulness and heaviness seamlessly combined in the same artistic vision: Geller's balloon fabrications radiate all the lighthearted joy of portraits of children...who have recently died. And he has constructed a video game control module possibly intended to burn you alive.
But if Geller's all sharp knives, dark jest and nihilist prankster, what's with a name linked to that slightly dated globe trotting charlatan asshole - Uri Geller? Jiri explains:
"Uri is friends with Michael Jackson - that is cool. And both Uri and I do tricks for a living. I like the way that people get suspicious when thinking they might be being cheated. Like: ´Could this guy's name really be Jiri Geller´. Well, they should be suspicious. We've all been cheated big time."
- Mark Maher, Helsinki Finland, May 2010
Education
1991-1994 Silversmith
Graduated from the Lahti Polytechnic; Institute of Design; Faculty of Goldsmith (MA)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 JIRI GELLER AT THE STUDIO II, Makasiini Contemporary, Turku, Finland
2019 JIRI GELLER AT THE STUDIO, Makasiini Contemporary, Turku, Finland
2018 BACK IN BLACK, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2017-2018 FUCK THE WORLD!, Serlachius Museum Gösta, Mänttä, Finland
2017 SMILE!, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2014 JIRI GELLER, ARCO Madrid, Madrid, Spain
2012 SUGARED, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2010 MAGIC, Studio, Turku Art Museum, Turku, Finland
2009 SERIES OF DISAPPOINTMENTS, Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary, Helsinki, Finland
SERIES OF DISAPPOINTMENTS, LARM galleri, Copenhagen, Denmark
JIRI GELLER, Art Bryssels, Brussels
2008 JIRI GELLER, Studio K, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
2007 DUNKELHEIT, gallery Krista Mikkola, Helsinki
THE ART OF THE BEAST, Norrtälje Konsthall, Norrtälje, Sweden
THE ART OF THE BEAST, Galleri 21, Malmö, Sweden
THE ART OF THE BEAST, Örebro Konsthall, Örebro, Sweden
2006 JIRI GELLER 1:1, The Korjaamo Culture Factory Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022-2023 MORNING COFFEE ON THE ROOF OF A TOWN – Works from the Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation’s contemporary art collection, Serlachius Museum Gösta, Mänttä, Finland
2021 ON THE AIR, Art and Museum Centre Sinkka, Kerava, Finland
SUMMERTIME 21’, Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen, Denmark
COCKTAIL, Zetterberg gallery, Helsinki, Finland
STREETS & PATHS - From Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Collection, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Rovaniemi, Finland
2020 Autumn Collection, Makasiini Contemporary, Turku, Finland
XMAS '20, Galleri Christoffer Egelund, Copenhagen
UNTITLED, ART Miami Beach OVR, Miami Beach, FL, USA
MERRY THINGS - From Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Collection, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Rovaniemi, Finland
EXPLORATIONS - Lars Göran Johnsson Collection, Turku Art Museum, Turku, Finland
UNTITLED, ART San Francisco, San Francisco, USA
2019 UNTITLED, ART Miami Beach, Miami Beach, USA
SUMMER 2019, Zetterberg gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2017 SHU SHU SHU SHOW, Spiral take art collection, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan
DREAMAHOLIC - Art from Finland. Miettinen Collection - Weserburg Museum Für moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany
2016 STILL LIFE - WORLD ON DISPLAY, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
COVER ART, Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany
ENSLAVED OR FREE, Zetterberg gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2015 NORDIC CONTEMPORARY ART part3 FINLAND, Galleri 21, Malmö, Sweden
ART IN MUSIC, Werke Aus Der Act Art Collection - Weserburg Museum Für moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany
BANG! Jiri Geller & Kaos, Zetterberg gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2014 SUPERPOP! Serlachius Museum Gösta, Mänttä, Finland
THE SKULL SHOW, Bedford gallery, Walnut Creek, USA
THIS IS THE WAY, Zetterberg gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2013 TEASER, Salon Dahlman, Berlin, Germany
2012 CAMOUFLAGE, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
WHAT A PARTY! Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, Finland
2011 SPATIAL PLACES, Fiskars Village, Fiskars, Finland
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOSTILITY, Zetterberg gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2010 TÄHTIHETKIÄ, The Association of Finnish Sculptors, 100-year anniversary, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, Finland
VOM DUNKEL GESCHLUCKT, Ars Auttoinen, Auttoinen, Finland
TRANSCENDING, LARM gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2009 TRACKING TRACES, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
LUME - PURNU, Orivesi, Finland
SMART, The Korjaamo Culture Factory Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2008 NIGHT ON EARTH - Connecting Urban Art Scenes, Suvilahti, Helsinki, Finland
NIGHT ON EARTH - Connecting Urban Art Scenes, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
NIGHT ON EARTH - Connecting Urban Art Scenes, Gallery Zero, Berlin, Germany
EVERY BODY COUNTS, Vestfossens Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, Norway
DARK, The Korjaamo Culture Factory Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
HEADHUNTERS, Zetterberg gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2007 THE 25 BEST ARTIST IN FINLAND, Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä, Finland
EVIL EYE, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
CAUGHT IN A MOMENT, Kuopio Art Museum, Kuopio, Finland
2006 ART SUPERMARKET PIKASSO, Helsinki, Finland
HUUMA, Skövde Konsthall, Skövde, Sweden
HUUMA, Linköping Konsthall Passagen, Linköping, Sweden
2005 HUUMA, Örebro Konsthall, Örebro, Sweden
JOIA FINLANDESA, FAD, Barcelona, Spain
2004 LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
2003 TOMORROW’S NEWS, Gallery 101, Ottawa, Canada
SCULPTING, the 8th Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä, Finland
1999 THE NORDIC POSTMODERNISM, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
OLOHUONEVIIKOT, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
ROR GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008 ROR, Fennofolk - New Nordic Oddity, Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland
2007 ROR: POWERTRIP, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
ROR: REVOLUTIONS ON REQUEST, Brändström+Stene gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
2006 ROR: The State of Things, National Museum for art, architecture and design, Oslo, Norway
2005 ROCK`N ROR, “FAITES VOS JEUX”, Shedhalle, Zürich, Switzerland
ROR FOREVER! MAM project 003, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
2004 ROR: ULTIMA THULE, DaDaDa, Temporary Contemporary Gallery, London, UK
ROR: ULTIMA THULE, Together Forever, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2003 ROR: ULTIMA THULE, Tirana Biennale 2, Tirana, Albania
ROR:CONTEMPORARY PLASTIC, ctrl_alt_del, Marres, Maastricht, Holland
ROR: CONTEMPORARY PLASTIC, ROR gallery, Helsinki, Finland
UTOPIA STATION, 50th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
ROR: PIECE BY PIECE, The Straight or Crooked Way, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2002 ROR: PIECE BY PIECE, Fundamentalisms of the New Order, Kunsthall Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
ROR: PIECE BY PIECE, Manifesta 4, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2001 ROR: UTOPIA, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
ROR: UTOPIA, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
ROR: UTOPIA, Skulpturens Hus, Stockholm, Sweden
2000 ROR: TERROR 2.0, Finnish Institute Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
ROR: TERROR 2000, Nordic House, Reykjavik, Island
ROR: TERROR 2000, Into-Galleria, Helsinki, Finland
Behind the scenes: Jiri Geller collaboration with the 69 Eyes
PUBLICATIONS
Jiri Geller
Fuck the World!
[Museum Gösta, Serlachius Museums, 28.10.2017-22.4.2018; curator Maaretta Jaukkuri]
195 x 230, hard cover
104 pages
Writers: Maaretta Jaukkuri,
Juho Juntunen, Timo Valjakka
Foreword: Pauli Sivonen
Layout: Riikka Kuukka & Parvs
Parvs 2017
Serlachius Museums' Publication No. 46
Finnish | English
ISBN 978-952-7226-09-4
ISSN 1799-7720
Jiri Geller
Selected works 1998-2008
[Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Studio K, 9.5. - 17.8.2008; curator Maaretta Jaukkuri]
170 x 245, hard cover
94 pages
Writers: Max Ryynänen, Jyrki Siukonen
Edited by Leevi Haapala
Layout: Jessica Leino & Jiri Geller
Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki 2008
Museum of Contemporary Art publication; 112/2008
Finnish | English
ISBN 978-951-53-3065-9
ISSN 0789-0338