Elina Brotherus (born 29 April 1972) is a Finnish photographer and video artist specializing in self-portraits and landscapes. She lives and works in Helsinki, Finland and Avallon, France. Brotherus' work blends personal and art-historical perspectives. Many of her photographs and videos are self-portraits that explore the connection between individuals and their environment, both in terms of interior spaces and landscapes. In her exhibition ''The Avantgarde doesn’t give up'', Brotherus engaged with and reinterpreted a series of written instructions from the

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

and neo-avant-garde movements. These instructions included performance scripts, Fluxus works, phrases from books, and titles of artworks. By embracing the avant-garde’s legacy, Brotherus carries its spirit into the contemporary era, creating a body of work that both honors and reshapes these artistic movements. Brotherus holds a Master’s degree in Photography from the

University of Art and Design Helsinki Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture; ; ), was formed of two separate schools: the faculty of architecture (previously part of the Helsinki University of Technology) and the University of Art and Design Helsinki (UIAH, known in ...

(now Aalto University) and a Master of Science in Chemistry from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

. She has showcased her work in prominent solo exhibitions globally, including at

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

in Paris, The National Art Center in Tokyo, Kunst Haus Wien in Vienna, and Weserburg Museum für Moderne Kunst in Bremen. Her works are also featured in major collections, such as those of the

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, also known as the Louisiana, is an art museum located north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Attracting over 700,000 guests annually, the Louisiana is Scandinavia's most visited museum for Modern art, modern and contempor ...

in Humlebæk,

MAXXI MAXXI (, 'national museum of 21st-century arts') is a national museum of contemporary art and architecture in the Flaminio neighborhood of Rome, Italy. The museum is managed by a foundation created by the Italian Ministry of Culture. The buildi ...

in Rome, and

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...

in Stockholm.

Life

Brotherus was born in Helsinki. She earned an M.S. in analytical chemistry from the University of Helsinki in 1997 and an M.F.A. in photography from the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 2000. She is considered a prominent member of

The Helsinki School The Helsinki School was a name introduced in an article by Boris Hohmeyer, ''Aufbruch im hohen Norden'' (Breakthrough in the Far North), in Art Das Kunstmagazin in 2003. This was the first time it was used as a brand name to describe a selection ...

. She lives and works in Finland and France. In 2003 her work was exhibited by the

Orange County Museum of Art The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located on the campus of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. The museum's collection comprises more than 4,500 objects, with a concentration ...

in ''Girls’ Night Out''. She won a scholarship from the

Carnegie Art Award The Carnegie Art Award was a Swedish art award event established in 1998 by Swedish financial group Carnegie Investment Bank to recognize and promote Nordic contemporary painting and artists. With a total prize sum of SEK 2.1m, the Carnegie Ar ...

in 2004 and she won the

Niépce Prize The Niépce Prize has been awarded annually since 1955 to a professional photographer who has lived and worked in France for over 3 years and is younger than 50 years (previously 45 years) of age. It was introduced in honour of Joseph Nicéphore N ...

in 2005. She is proud of being able to produce images taken from nature that are not "Photoshopped". Her work is primarily autobiographical. She documents her infertility and "involuntary childlessness" in her 2011–2015 series "''Carpe Fucking Diem"'' and 2009-2013 ''"Annonciation."''

Awards

2005 *

2004 * Citigroup Private Bank Photography Prize 2002 * Fotofinlandia 2000 award for photography.

References

External links

* 1972 births Living people 21st-century Finnish women photographers Artists from Helsinki Finnish photographers Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture alumni {{Photographer-stub