[Nissinen's work] discloses a critical take on the difficulties of social interaction, on philosophy, and on the language of media.
Erkka Nissinen (b. 1975, Jyväskylä, Finland) lives and works in Helsinki, New York, and Amsterdam. He studied art at schools in London and Helsinki. In 2007, he was artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. His work consists of videos, performances and comics. He won the Illy Prize in Rotterdam in 2011. Nissinen is co-founder and director of Handkerchief Production, a creative studio and fashion brand dedicated to interdisciplinary experiments in architecture, art and design.
Though absurd to the point of nonsense and often obscene, Nissinen’s work is far from being meaningless. Rather, it discloses a critical take on the difficulties of social interaction, on philosophy, and on the language of media -such as children’s television, educational programs, or porn, often all mashed up into one.
Erkka Nissinen, alongisde Nathaniel Mellors, represented Finland at the Venice Biennial in 2017.