Born 1965 in Turku, Finland.
Lives and works in Turku, Finland
Saara Ekström works in film, photography, text and installation. She is drawn to associative narratives, where reality and fiction, growth and withering, the seductive and repulsive challenge each other. Chronotopes where time and place densify, time itself that nurtures and erodes, the ambivalent desire to both remember and forget are at the core of her art. Ekström’s work has been shown extensively in various museums and festivals in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2021
Biblion, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland
2020
Amnion, Ars Nova Museum, Turku
2018
Amnion, Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo, Japan
Body All Eyes, Gallery Sinne, Helsinki, Finland
2017
Amplifier, Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland
Amplifier, Pori Art Museum, Rappu, Finland
2016
Alchemy, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, Turku, Finland
Alchemy, Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden
2014
Careless Water, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM, USA
The Ever-Changing Portrait – feat. Saara Ekström, Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
2011
Limbus, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
Limbus, Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa, Finland
Rosario, Turku Castle, Turku 2011 European Capital of Culture, Finland
2010
Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Excess and Ascesis, Gallery Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary, Helsinki, Finland
Memory Traces, Galerie Kuma, Berlin, Germany
2009
Metamorphose, Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo, Japan,
2008
A Single Charm is Doubtful, Galerie Centrum, Graz, Austria
Liquid Life, The Nordic Watercolour Museum, Skärhamn, Sweden
2006
Grotesque & Arabesque, Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki,
Grotesque & Arabesque, Galeria do Lago, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2021
Wild/Schön, Kunsthalle Emden, Emden, Germany
2020
Meadow, Onoma, Fiskars, Finland
Still Still Life, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
Inanimate Life and Dead Nature, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
2019
Videonale 17 – Refracted Realities, Bonn, Germany
Earth Rights, Turku Art Hall, Finland
Four Elements, Turku Art Museum, Finland
2018
No Ordinary Moments, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland
Nature Morte, Guildhall Art Gallery, London, GB
2017
Abundance and Ephemerality, Kadriorg Art Museum, Estonia
12 Classics, Helsinki Contemporary, Finland
Nature Morte, National museum, Wrocław, Poland
2016
Kiasma’s Collection Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
Luscious Thrills, Gammel Holtegaard, Denmark
2014
ISCP Fall Open Studios, Brooklyn, NYC, USA
The Big Picture, Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
2013
Settlement, E.B.A, Ottawa, Canada
Street Life, Helsinki Contemporary, Helsinki, Finland
2012
Alice in Wonderland, ECCO, Cádiz, Spain
Festival Voies Off Arles 2012, Arles, France
The Seventh Wave – Wihuri and Visual Art, Kunsthalle, Helsinki, Finland
2011
Reflective Shadow, Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund, Denmark
Carnegie Art Award 2010, Kunsthalle, Helsinki, Finland
2010
Stressed Beauty, Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Memory Traces, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany
Carnegie Art Award 2010, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm
2009
Carnegie Art Award 2010, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
Glow, Richard Levy gallery, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Finnish Contemporary Art, Gothenburg Art Museum, Sweden
Four Finnish Cut Outs, Borås Art Museum, Borås, Sweden
Surface, Turku Biennial 2009, Ars Nova, Turku, Finland
2008
Incertitude de la Vision, Tour&Taxis, Brussels, Belgium
Brave New World, Galerie Mánes, Prague, Czech
2007
Meanwhile, Stroom Contemporary Art Centre, The Hague, Netherlands
Come Ashore, 12 th International Environment Art Symposium, Geoje Art Centre, South Korea
2006
Light and Shadow, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Japan
Ephemeral - a flash for eternity, Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Japan
Drawing Lust – drawing in digital times, Kunsthalle Lophem, Belgium
2004
Buitenspel, GEM - The Hague Museum of Contemporary Art, Netherlands
Love Me or Leave Me, Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Finland
The Garden of Eden, Helsinki City Art Museum, Finland (catalogue)
SELECTED FILM FESTIVALS
2021
CPH:DOX Documentary Film Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark
2020
Love & Anarchy Film Festival, featuring works with Heikki Kossi, Helsinki, Finland,
33rd Festival Les Instants Vidéo, Marseille, France
2019
Sheffield International Film Festival, UK
Edinburgh IFF, Edinburgh, Scotland
AV-arkki catalogue, ISFF Oberhausen, Germany
23. Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Jihlava, Czech
2018
XV DocumentaMadrid, Madrid, Spain
IFF Pacific Meridian, Vladivostok, Russia
22nd Intl. Video Festival Videomedeja, Novi Sad, Serbia
AV-arkki catalogue, ISFF Oberhausen, Germany
Pori Film Festival, Finland
Rex-fest, Bio Rex, Helsinki, Finland
2017
Stage festival, Taanila-Vainio-Ekström, Korjaamo, Helsinki, Finland Pixelimuraali, Turku, Finland
2016
20. Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS 2018
AVEK Media Art Award
2017
Art Prize of Southwest Finland
2015
Arts Council of Finland, 5-year working grant
2011
The Environmental Structure of the Year, Turku City Library Public Work
2010-2011
Wihuri Foundation, studio award
2010
Nomination for Carnegie Art Award
2002
Nomination for Ars Fennica
1996
Matrix International Exhibition Award
