Bio

Arttu Merimaa (born in Pori Finland 1983, lives and works in Helsinki) is an artist focusing on moving image and video installation. His videos deal with the merging of the common and the subjective; how personal experiences co-exist with the media culture and how reality is conceptualized through visual imagery. He has graduated from Tampere University of Applied Sciences in 2007 and is currently finishing his Masters in Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. He has presented his works in various solo and group exhibitions as well as video screenings in Finland and abroad. He has also participated in residencies; Changdong National Art Studios in Seoul South-Korea (2009), Ox-Bow, Saugatuck, MI, Usa (2010), Cité des Arts in Paris, France (2011) and Residency Unlimited in New York, US. His works are included in the collections of Helsinki City Art Museum and Kiasma Museum Contemporary Art in Helsinki.

In his works Merimaa has been dealing with the aesthetic qualities of visual technicalities such as 3D or chroma keying in relation to their conceptual positions in the politics of seeing. Merimaa concentrates on the rhetorics and visual wrappings of societal ideas, public subjection and subjects aspiration towards an individual identity.

In addition to his own artistic work Merimaa runs a window gallery called Alkovi in Helsinki. In 2013 Alkovi gallery focuses on commissioned works from invited artists to deal with the specific location of the gallery and its existence in the public space. Merimaa’s curatorial work centers around the concept of collegial art practice and artist-run initiatives. He has been organizing exhibitions, events, screenings and art projects since the year 2005.