Petri Ala-Maunus b. 1970

For nearly three decades, Ala-Maunus has devoted himself to landscape painting. His sustained effort to disrupt tradition has only deepened his engagement with the genre. In his earlier work, he approached the theme through strategies of kitsch and conceptualism, employing seriality and repetition. His compositions reveal affinities with nineteenth-century North American and German landscape painting, particularly the romantic-realist Düsseldorf School. At the same time, he draws freely from popular culture, notably the visual language of metal music album covers.

Petri Ala-Maunus (b. 1970) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2011. His work has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Amos Rex, the Ateneum Art Museum, and HAM Helsinki Art Museum. His works are held in major public and private collections, among them the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Amos Rex, the Sara Hildén Art Museum, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and the Serlachius Museums. In 2010, he received the William Thuring Prize from the Finnish Art Society, and in 2019 he was nominated for the Ars Fennica Prize.