Aino Kannisto

Aino Kannisto
Born	1973
Occupation	Artist

Aino Kannisto (born in 1973 in Espoo, Finland) is a photographic artist who lives and works in Helsinki.

Aino Kannisto became Master of Arts (Photography) from the University of Art and Design (UIAH) in Helsinki in 2001. She is part of The Helsinki School.

Kannisto is known for radiant self-portraits that formulate suggestive narratives. Although her pictures are visually stimulating and full of color, personal tension and angst dominates the photograph. For each of her characters, she comes up with representations that are presented as still images, in which time seems to have stopped. The action stiffens in a fragmentary moment, situated between one intimated action and a passive wait. She uses a procedure similar to that of cinematographic production. At first she sketches a scenario and a setting outlined by a drawn and written plot, where she herself is the protagonist. The subtle signals of desperation, solitude and violence found in the self-representations of Kannisto arouse anxiety, perplexity and irritation in the observer.

She has had one-man shows in many private galleries, from Galerie m, Bochum, 2002 and 2006, to the galleries Forum für Fotografie, Cologne, 2003; Image, Arhus, 2003; Artina, Helsinki, 2004; Espacío Lìquido, Gijon, 2006; as well as in institutions such as the Finlandsinstitutet, Stockholm, 2003; the Kunsteverein Münsterland, Coesfeld, 2004; and the Insitut Français, Paris, 2004. Some of the collective exhibitions she has taken part in are the recent Self timer, Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center, København (Denmark); Presence – perspectives on Finnish photography, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, Turku; Selbstauslöser, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel; and The Helsinki School, Photology, Milan, all in 2006.