Mikko Kallio's Art Presented during the Scandinavian Open Studio Day
Artist Mikko Kallio moved to New York in July to spend a year working here. Kallio's Greenpoint workspace was part of the Scandinavian artists' open studio day on Saturday November 5th. The tour to the North Brooklyn studios was organized by Elfi Alvin, a pioneer in promoting the work of Nordic artists in New York.
The visitors to Kallio's studio were curious about his working methods and his artistic ideals. Mikko Kallio named the Indian artist Nek Chad Saini (b.1924), famous for building the Rock Garden of Chandigarh, and for salvaging objects from villages demolished out of the way of the modern city designed by Le Corbusier, as his role model. Kallio's own work is driven by imagination, and he also combines three-dimensional found materials to his collages. His works realized during the stay in New York are on show near his studio space at Pierogi gallery's Flat Files, chests of drawers holding portfolios of artworks.
Kallio has exhibited both in Finland and abroad since 1998. For the past three years he worked as the Regional Artist in Visual Arts at the Arts Council of Pirkanmaa in Tampere, Finland. In 2012 his works can be seen at the Trygve Lie gallery in New York, and both in Pirkanmaa Triennial and at Art Salon Husa in Tampere.
