Matti Kujasalo (born in Helsinki in 1946) is one of Finland’s internationally best-known artists. He has addressed issues of systematic Constructivist art for the past forty years. He has developed a unique grammar of his own, and, based on its rules, he has created a visual language that is expressive, nuanced and imbued with surprise.

Kujasalo’s paintings are pure, fresh and cool. They contain endless things to see and one never tires of them. His works also have a special lyrical tone and character that are rarely associated with Constructivist art. They are also intellectually fascinating and challenging, and visually enjoyable. The structures, logic and internal development of Matti Kujasalo’s earlier works are mostly easy to read and comprehend, while his later paintings are structurally more complex, and the viewer has to give up, reject ‘understanding’ and accept the inexplicability of sensory pleasure, its mystery.

Kujasalo has held solo exhibitions in leading European galleries and museums in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Hungary, among other countries. He has also represented Finland at the Venice Biennial and his works are included in the collections of museums such as the Albertina in Vienna, the Arithmeum in Bonn, the Forum Konkrete Kunst Museum in Erfurt, the Josef Albers Museum in Bottrop, along with numerous private collections in Finland, Scandinavia, other European countries and the United States.

Matti Kujasalo’s exhibition at GASK is being staged in collaboration with Galerie Anhava, Helsinki, FRAME Contemporary Art Finland, Pori Art Museum and the Embassy of Finland in Prague. It presents a survey of the artist’s work since the 1970s, thus introducing in greater breadth the work of a figure of Constructivist art who has, until now, been relatively unknown to the Czech public. Constructivism itself is, however, a trend that has had a unique place in Czech art since the 1960s. The exhibition is part of the Finland 100 programme, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Finnish State. 

GASK - Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region