Raili Tang b. 1950
Born in Helsinki 1950 | Lives and works in Helsinki
For Raili Tang, colors are more than hues distinguished by our visual receptors: soul scapes, states of mind, and nuanced impressions. Colors are her passion, her gateway to specific emotions; they well up from deep within her, insisting on escaping through the tip of her paintbrush. Painting is a conscious physical process for Tang. She applies the paint intuitively, layer upon layer until she instinctively arrives at the desired result. She wants every work to bear the imprint of its history – each layer of paint adds a new chapter, inviting a dialogue with the next layer, and so on until a narrative unfolds. The very physicality of painting makes Tang keep falling in love all over again with painting and colors.
Tang's debut exhibition in 1981 came at a time when the Finnish art scene was just becoming international. Artists strove to escape tradition by returning sensuality and substance to painting. Tang sought the genre of abstract expressionism, whose doctrines hold that the painting itself is a feeling or experience and not merely an image. This philosophy is still connected to Tang's work. The artist's works have been featured in exhibitions held in Finland and numerous international exhibitions. Her works are included in the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art and the Saastamoinen Foundation collections, among others.
Galerie Forsblom has been representing Raili Tang since 2005.
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Raili Tang
August 22 - September 21, 2025Raili Tang’s latest paintings literally capture interwoven layers of time.Read more -
Raili Tang
Flower of Life November 29, 2024 - January 12, 2025Raili Tang has been painting the seasons and incorporating organic references in her compositions for many years. Although figurative expression holds secondary relevance for the artist, her paintings convincingly capture a vivid sense of nature’s flux. Her latest paintings depict a variety of flowers – often of a fanciful, fictitious variety, but some are also inspired by real flower species. Floral motifs have a long legacy in art history. Artists have been conveying rich symbolism through flowers for centuries, but for Tang, the thing of paramount importance is the act of painting itself, whether done with a paintbrush, palette knife or even a glove. Tang is a physical painter whose process combines exuberant abandon and sensitive dialogue with the canvas. Sometimes her paintings are completed in one quick session, other times it takes longer for them to find their final form. Her overlapping layers of color interact in complex ways, supporting, challenging, surprising and drawing strength from each other, expressing the full spectrum of human emotions in their chorus of hues.Read more
Tang is a colorist who believes that colors say more than words ever could. A single painting might contain countless nuances expressed purely with color. The best way to enjoy Tang’s art is to give oneself time to immerse oneself deeply in its bewildering richness and to soak up the energy that flows from it. While many of Tang’s paintings express joy, they also convey other emotions; a touch of melancholy often lingers in the background, suggesting that life is best when exploring and appreciating the full richness of its colors and nuances. A new feature that has emerged alongside Tang’s signature expressive style is the appearance of delicate color accents alluding to Impressionism. Playing with combinations of warm and cool hues is an enjoyable process for Tang, and the viewer can palpably sense the ease with which coloristic nuances flow from her brush.
Raili Tang (b. 1950) has exhibited her work widely in Finland and internationally. Her paintings are held in Finland’s major museum collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, the Sara Hildén Art Museum, the Wihuri Foundation, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and the HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Tang was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal in 2015.
