JIRI GELLER
b.1970 Sculptor
jiri.gelpoistaler@gmail.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
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 (MFA)
1991-1994 Silversmith
Graduated from the Lahti Polytechnic; Institute of Design; Faculty of Goldsmith (MFA)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017
FUCK THE WORLD!, Art museum Gösta, Mänttä, Finland
SMILE!, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2014
JIRI GELLER, ARCO Madrid, represented by Zetterberg Gallery, Madrid, Spain
2012
SUGARED, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2010
MAGIC, Studio, Turku Art Museum, Turku, Finland
2009
SERIES OF DISAPPOINTMENTS, Gallery Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary, Helsinki, Finland
SERIES OF DISAPPOINTMENTS, LARM galleri, Copenhagen, Denmark
2008
JIRI GELLER, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
2007
DUNKELHEIT, galleria Krista Mikkola, Helsinki, Finland
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
2017
SHU SHU SHU SHOW, Spiral take art collection 2017, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan
2017
DREAMAHOLIC, Works from the Miettinen Collection, Weserburg Museum, Bremen, Germany
2016
ENSLAVED OR FREE?, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
STILL LIFE - WORLD ON DISPLAY, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
COVER ART, Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Germany
2015
NORDIC CONTEMPORARY ART part 3 FINLAND, Galleri 21, Malmö, Sweden
ART IN MUSIC - Works from the ACT Art Collection, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany
BANG! Jiri Geller & Kaos, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2014
SUPERPOP!, Art museum Gösta, Mänttä, Finland
THE SKULL SHOW, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, USA
THIS IS THE WAY, Aurora Reinhard, Jani Leinonen & Jiri Geller, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2013
TEASER, Aurora Reinhard, Mari Keto, Jani Leinonen & Jiri Geller, Salon Dahlman, Berlin, Germany
2012
CAMOUFLAGE, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
WHAT A PARTY! Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, Finland
2011
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOSTILITY, Jani Leinonen & Jiri Geller, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
SPATIAL PLACES, Fiskars, Finland
2010
VOM DUNKEL GESCHLUCKT, Ars Auttoinen, Auttoinen, Finland
TÄHTIHETKIÄ, the Association of Finnish Sculptors, 100-year anniversary, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art, Turku, Finland
2009
KOTI TAITEEN NÄYTTÄMÖNÄ - Nykytaide kohtaa Loviisan historialliset talot, Loviisa, Finland
LUME, Purnun kesänäyttely, Orivesi, Finland
TRICLE-DOWN THEORY, the Korjaamo Culture Factory Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
TRACKING TRACES, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
SMART, the Korjaamo Culture Factory Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2008
EVERY BODY COUNTS, Vestfossens Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, Norway
NIGHT ON EARTH - Connecting Urban Art Scenes, Suvilahden voimala, Helsinki, Finland
NIGHT ON EARTH - Connecting Urban Art Scenes, Moca - Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, China
NIGHT ON EARTH - Connecting Urban Art Scenes, Gallery Zero, Berlin, Germany
HEADHUNTERS, Zetterberg Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
DARK, the Korjaamo Culture Factory Gallery, Helsinki, Finland
2007
EVIL EYE, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
THE 25 BEST ARTISTS IN FINLAND, Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä, Finland
CAUGHT IN A MOMENT, Kuopio Art Museum, Kuopio, Finland
2006
ART SUPER MARKET PIKASSO, Helsinki, Finland
HUUMA, Skövde Konsthall, Skövde, Sweden
HUUMA, Linköping Konsthall Passagen, Linköping, Sweden
2005
HUUMA, Örebro Konsthall, Örebro, Sweden
JOIA FINLANDESE, FAD, Barcelona, Spain
2004
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
2003
SCULPTING, the 8th Mänttä Art Festival, Mänttä, Finland
TOMORROWS NEWS, Gallery 101, Ottawa, Canada
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
THE STATE OF THINGS, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, Oslo, Norway
2005
ROCK`N ROR, "FAITES VOS JEUX", Shedhalle, Zurich, Switzerland
ROR FOREVER! MAM project 003, Mori Art Museum, Tokio, Tokyo
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 galleria, 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, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
ROR: PIECE BY PIECE, Manifesta 4, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2001
ROR: UTOPIA, Skulpturens Hus, Stockholm, Sweden
ROR: UTOPIA, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
ROR: UTOPIA, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
2000
ROR: TERROR 2.0, Finnish Institute Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
ROR: TERROR 2000, Nordic House, Reykjavik, Island
ROR: TERROR 2000, Into gallery, Helsinki, Finland
COLLECTIONS
- ACT Art Collection
- Design museum, Helsinki
- Fondation Francés
- Gösta Serlachius Fine Art Foundation's collection
- Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
- The State Art Collection, Finland
- Åbergsmuseum, Karlstad, Sweden
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