Art Brussels 23–26 April 2026
Booth 5E-39
At Art Brussels, Helsinki Contemporary presents an ensemble of works by Leena Nio (FIN), Michael Johansson (SWE) and Emma Sarpaniemi (FIN).
The three artists, all from different backgrounds and generations, utilise everyday objects in their work in their own ways. By depicting and transforming household items, clothing, or everyday ephemera, the artists tap into universal themes of design, aesthetics, identity and gender, to mention a few.
Contact
Owner & Director Olli Piippo: olli.piippo@helsinkicontemporary.com
Sales Director Katja Räisänen: katja.raisanen@helsinkicontemporary.com, +358-50-464-2911
Press inquiries:
Communications Manager Jaakko Uoti, Helsinki Contemporary
+358 50 554 8884
jaakko.uoti@helsinkicontemporary.com
Leena Nio
Leena Nio's (b. 1982, Helsinki, Finland) skilful paintings are both concrete and conceptual, creating both material and spatial illusions in the pictorial space. Nio is interested in the possibilities of painting as a means of expression, and the changing themes and techniques that frame her works stem from this interest. The layering and framing of an image are both important elements in Nio's paintings. The works can be tightly cropped portraits, in which attention is drawn to everyday details that initially seem irrelevant.
Leena Nio graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki. In 2014, Nio was nominated for the Ars Fennica Art Prize. Her works have been shown in numerous solo exhibitions in Finland and Sweden and in group exhibitions in various art museums in Europe and the United States.
Michael Johansson
Michael Johansson (b. 1975, Trollhättan, Sweden) is known for his distinctive style of sculpture and installation, which combines found objects to create new forms, structures and patterns. Johansson deals with ordinary items, but in a way far from the ordinary: objects are morphed into precisely stacked rectangular shapes, connected to a certain place, where their original purpose is transformed into catalysts of new meanings.
After studies at the Art Academy in Trondheim, Norway, and Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee, Germany, Michael Johansson took his masters degree at Malmö Art Academy, Sweden, 2005. Since then he has exhibited frequently both within and outside of Sweden. Johansson currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Some of Johansson’s most important solo exhibitions include Museum Voorlinden (NL), Gothenburg Art Museum (SWE), Helsinki Contemporary (FIN), Ystads Art Museum (SWE) and Vigeland-museet (NOR).
Emma Sarpaniemi
Emma Sarpaniemi (b. 1993 in Helsinki, Finland) explores womanhood and definitions of femininity through playful and performative photographs. In her self-portraits, Sarpaniemi uses herself as a vessel for the viewer’s imagination. The characters she depicts in her work are fictional but contain parts of the artist’s own identity and combine reality with the imagined. The shutter release cable, often clearly visible in her photographs, serves as a symbol of the subject being in control of their own image.
Emma Sarpaniemi graduated with a BA in Photography from the Royal Academy of Art the Hague KABK. Her works have been exhibited in galleries, museums and festivals throughout Europe. Her notable presentations include solo shows at Jarmuschek+Partner in Berlin and NEVVEN in Gothenburg in 2025, solo show at the Finnish Museum of Photography in 2024 and exhibiting at the photographic festival Les Rencontres d’Arles in 2023.