Maritta Tapanainen

BIO

marittatapanainen.com

These works consist of a subtle interplay between intricately collaged micro-structures and deep green turn-of-the-century endpages detailed with a floral engrave – a millefleur motif – existent with an elusive filigree overprint of sinuous silvery twined fronds. Surfacing this groundcover – this artifice of nature – are collages formed of fragmented paper cuttings which integrate into or disturb the ornate substratum dissolving as shimmering apparitions to appear disappear reappear. Camouflage-like, the appearance perceptibly alters under lighting and the viewer’s position, displaying a dual character fleetingly revealed or hidden. Wavering on the edge of visibility – finely slivered bits, hairs width strands, delicate gossamer webbing, and concentrations of pinpoint granules, converge to disperse in subliminal murmuration – a hue redolent of the elegance of currency and alluding to the enchantment of Indian miniatures if only in size and intricacy.

These small works are paired in contrast with larger collages from 2010, both series portray illumination whether emerging from darkness as in the latter or from a shimmering surface of the recent collages. They are of a continuum. Of those presented in this exhibition, Out There would be among the most sizable collages endeavored to date.

An invented, inverted space-scape glows on a black field of seemingly electrified synapses conjured by crumplage – night is observed as a freewheeling fantastic array of luminous globules or modules – replicating microbes, spirulina tangles, eccentric architecture, sputnik junk, all-seeing orbs, fuzzy black holes, matrix honeycombs, astro fungi, anthropomorphic allusions, carnival neon, other suns, stars, starscapes coalesce – inserting here and there, a tip of the hat to the whimsy of Klee and to surrealist play and iconography.

I was born in Finland, grew up in Canada and have since lived in Europe, Central America and for a time, in the raw, expansive beauty of the Mojave desert. I travel when possible – journeys of inspiring encounters have infused an awareness and respect for a variety of cultural experiences enriching my vision and contributing to my approach to collage. I currently live in Santa Monica, California.

Over the course of her career, Tapanainen was represented by Couturier Gallery, LA from 1995 until its closure in 2018 and by Pavel Zoubok Gallery, NY from 2005–2017. In 2008 she had a solo exhibition at the Fresno Art Museum.

Tapanainen was an artist-in-residence at The LUCID Art Foundation Residency in 2023, a recipient of Pollock-Krasner Foundation grants 2004 and 2007. Her work is in the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (mfa), The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Crocker Art Museum, The LUCID Art Foundation, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia), Beth Rudin DeWoody, Fondation Galila Barzilaï-Hollander, and numerous other collections. Her collages have been presented at numerous art fairs and events: The ADAA Art Show, Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, Houston Fine Art Fair, CA Boom–Dwell on Design Los Angeles, Pulse Art Fair (Miami and New York), LA Art Show, Works on Paper–The Park Avenue Armory.

Tapanainen has exhibited nationally in the U.S. including touring exhibitions with the International Collage Center, and internationally in London, UK and Nagoya and Gifu City, Japan. Her collages were highlighted in The West Marin Review (Vol 10, 2021), showcased in Posit – A Journal of Literature & Art (Vol 21, 2019), and in the Paris Review Spring Portfolio (2011). Solo exhibitions have received favorable reviews in the Los Angeles Times, Art Forum and other publications.






About The Work


These small works are paired in contrast with larger collages from 2010, both series portray illumination whether emerging from darkness as in the latter or from a shimmering surface of the recent collages.

Selections are made with a practiced eye — finding inspiration in idiosyncratic marks with semblance to the drawn line: notations, filaments, dots, dashes. Image fragments found sifting through all kinds of outmoded tomes. My interest in acquiring discarded volumes began long before discovering their wondrous potential attracted by their visual eccentricities, by the warmth of the patina, and the fragility of this arcane printed matter, its evocative obsolescence.





Solo Exhibitions

  • 2024

    cut/form Maritta Tapanainen and David Fought
    Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA

  • 2021

    Paper & Bronze Maritta Tapanainen and Byron Ryono
    Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco CA

  • 2020

    Insignificance Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID
    Stewart Gallery, Boise ID

  • 2015

    Resonance Maritta Tapanainen and Alison Keogh
    Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles CA

  • 2014

    Maritta Tapanainen—Turangalila
    Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY

  • 2013

    Affinities Maritta Tapanainen and Olga Seem
    Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles CA

  • 2011

    The Milky Way Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY

  • 2008

    • Introspective Accretions: The Collages of Maritta Tapanainen
      Fresno Art Museum, Fresno CA
    • Maritta Tapanainen—Morphology
      Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY

  • 2007

    • Patrick Percy & Maritta Tapanainen
      Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena CA
    • From There to Here—Collage 1992-2007
      Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles CA

  • 2005

    Maritta Tapanainen—Collages
    Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY

  • 2002

    • natural connection—new collages
      Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles CA
    • Gallery Miyabi, Nagoya, Japan
    • Gallery Naufu, Gifu City, Japan

  • 2000

    Maritta Tapanainen—Collages
    Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles CA

  • 1995

    Subtle Differences—Collage
    Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles CA

Grants and Residencies

  • 2023

    The LUCID Art Foundation Residency – Inverness, CA

  • 2004, 2007

    Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant

Collections

  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (mfa); Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; The LUCID Art Foundation; Mount Holyoke College Art Museum; Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia); many private collections

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2022

    Nocturnal Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA; Fellows of Contemporary Art (FOCA), Los Angeles, CA Curated by Joey Lehman Morris

  • 2020

    She Too! Denenberg Fine Art, Los Angeles CA

  • 2018

    no rhyme or reason. Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco CA

  • 2017

    Supernature. Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY

  • 2015

    • Vices Peculiar to These Eclectics. St John’s University Queens NY
    • Intricate Expanse. Lesley Heller Workspace, New York NY [curator, Mario Naves]

  • 2014

    Present Art XV Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
    Select Cuts & Alterations. Foley Gallery, New York NY

  • 2013

    • Some Like It Hot. Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles CA
    • Remix: Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah NY and University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN
    • Remix: Selections from the International Collage Center Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

  • 2012

    • Disparate Roots: Contemporary Collage Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton NJ
    • Remix: Selections from the International Collage Center The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia MO
    • I’ll Take You There: The Constructed Landscape Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY

  • 2011

    • Remix: Selections from the International Collage Center Bucknell University, Lewisburg PA
    • Borders and Frontiers: Globalization, Temporality & Appropriation in the Contemporary Image Oakland University Art Gallery, Rochester MI
    • Paper Works with Echiko Ohira, Alan Valencia Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles CA

  • 2010

    • Myü-zik en ärt Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
    • Summer Time Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
    • Pop Goes the World Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY
    • New Works: Prints-Drawings-Collages Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA
    • Conversaciones/conversations Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

  • 2009

    • COLLAGE, LONDON / NEW YORK Fred [London] Ltd, UK Co-curated with Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York
    • Daughters of the Revolution—Women & Collage Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY
    • Insight/Inside LA. Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles CA

  • 2008

    • Gracias a la Vida Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
    • The Culture of Collage Zoller Gallery. Penn State University, PA
    • Messages & Magic: 100 Years of Collage and Assemblage in American Art. John Michael Kohler Arts Center, WI
    • Emphasis Santa Monica. Susan & Pete Barrett Gallery, Santa Monica CA
    • 1968/2008: The Culture of Collage. Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY
    • Alchemy - Collage & Assemblage. 516 Arts, Albuquerque NM

  • 2007

    • Present Art XIV Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
    • Bits and Pieces: The Collage Impulse. Lehman College Bronx NY
    • In Context: collage + abstraction. Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY

  • 2006

    • Picking Up the Pieces. William D. Cannon Art Gallery, Carlsbad CA
    • The New Collage. Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY
    • Intimate Revelation. Southern Oregon University, Ashland OR [curator, Josine Ianco Starrels]
    • Introspection. Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco CA

  • 2005

    • Present Art XII Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
    • Collage. Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY
    • COLLAGE Signs & Surfaces. Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY

  • 2004

    Mindscape. Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York NY
    Present Art XI Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

  • 2003

    Contemplation. LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe NM [curator, Katherine Chang Liu]
    Present Art X Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

  • 2001

    By Nature’s Design. William D. Cannon Art Gallery, Carlsbad CA

  • 2000

    • Immigrant Eyes Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA
    • . . .age. Ellen Kim Murphy Gallery, Santa Monica CA
    • Abstraction. Santa Monica College Art Gallery, Santa Monica CA
    • Maritta Tapanainen, Echiko Ohira, Nancy Uyemura LA Artcore Brewery Annex, Los Angeles, CA
    • Present Art VII Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

  • 1999

    Kindred Spirits. Palos Verdes Art Center, Palos Verdes CA [curator, Josine Ianco Starrels]
    Present Art VI Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

  • 1998

    Tales of Los Angeles Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

  • 1997

    • Around Us - Recent Landscapes. Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles CA
    • California Visions. Gallery Naito, Nagoya, Japan

  • 1995

    • Pasted Papers: Collage & the 20th Century. Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles CA [in collaboration with Peter Frank]
    • P.L.A.N.: Photography Los Angeles Now. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles CA

  • 1994

    Cups. Space Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

  • 1993

    Present Art II. Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

  • 1992

    The Sticking Place. - Space & Image in Contemporary Collage. Long Beach City College, Long Beach CA [curator, Peter Frank]

  • 1991

    • Collage - Montage. Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles CA
    • Expectations. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Sales and Rental Gallery, Los Angeles CA

  • 1990

    Accretions: Collage and Assemblage. Space Gallery, Los Angeles CA

Juried Exhibitions

  • 1993

    Found Object As Art. Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, CA
    Juror. Michael C. McMillen / award

  • 1991

    Issue: Earth. Brandstater Gallery, Loma Linda University Riverside, Riverside, CA
    Juror. Josine Ianco-Starrels
    Found Object As Art. Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, CA
    Juror. George Herms / award

  • 1990

    Ninth Annual September Competition. Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA
    Juror. Hugh M. Davies

  • 1989

    Ninth Annual Juried Exhibition. Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Orange, CA
    Juror. Kerry Brougher / award

Awards and Collections

  • The LUCID Art Foundation Artist-in-Residence 2023
  • Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant 2004, 2007
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (mfa)
  • Crocker Art Museum
  • The LUCID Art Foundation
  • Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
  • Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia)
  • Many private collections

Publications and Reviews

  • 2022

    Nocturnal. Exhibition Catalog, Torrance Art Museum; Fellows of Contemporary Art (FOCA), CA

  • 2020

    Exhibition Catalog. Insignificance
    West Marin Review - Prose, Poetry, Art - Vol 10

  • 2019

    Posit - A Journal of Literature & Art - positjournal.com – Vol 21

  • 2017

    Supernature - ArtDaily, July 20

  • 2015

    • Exhibition Catalog. Vices Peculiar to These Eclectics: Contemporary Collage
    • Los Angeles Times. Two artists’ work at Couturier Gallery negotiate chance and control. Leah Ollman

  • 2014

    • New York Times. In Blue-Chip Precincts, a Shout-Out for the Undersung Booths Devoted to Women Multiply at the Art Show.
    • Karen Rosenberg. [Women Collagists, Pavel Zoubok Gallery, ADAA The Art Show]

  • 2012

    Exhibition Catalog. Remix: Selections from the International Collage Center

  • 2011

    • Exhibition Catalog. Borders and Frontiers: Globalization, Temporality & Appropriation in the Contemporary Image
    • The PARIS REVIEW. Pavel Zoubok on Collage - spring portfolio. David Wallace-Wells
    • Visual Art Source. Echiko Ohira, Maritta Tapanainen and Alan Valencia. Margarita Nieto

  • 2009

    • Exhibition Catalog. Daughters of the Revolution - Women and Collage
    • Exhibition Catalog. Insight/Inside LA
    • artreview.com. Collage, London/New York at Fred. Oliver Basciano
    • London Evening Standard. Collage at the Cutting Edge. Ben Lewis

  • 2008

    • Exhibition Catalog. Messages & Magic: Collage and Assemblage in American Art
    • Exhibition Catalog. The Culture of Collage
    • Exhibition Catalog. Maritta Tapanainen - Morphology. [essay, Peter Frank]
    • Fresno Art Museum Preview, Sept. Introspective Accretions: The Collages of Maritta Tapanainen. Jacquelin Pilar
    • The New York Sun. Cut-and-Paste, Then and Now. John Goodrich
    • Albuquerque Journal. Show Portrays Modern Relevance for Collage. Dan Mayfield

  • 2007

    • Exhibition Catalog. In Context: collage + abstraction
    • Exhibition Catalog. Maritta Tapanainen - From There to Here [essay, Stuart Denenberg]
    • New York Times. Collages Go to College, And Behave Accordingly. Benjamin Genocchio
    • New York Sun. Abstract Jewels of Modernism. Maureen Mullarkey
    • LA Weekly. Art Pick of the Week, Three Hits of Ecstacy. Peter Frank
    • Art Forum. Critics Pick, Maritta Tapanainen. Matthew Wilder
    • Los Angeles Times. Piecing Together this Thing Called Life. Leah Ollman

  • 2006

    • Exhibition Catalog. Picking Up the Pieces
    • Exhibition Catalog. The New Collage
    • Daily Tidings. Exhibit Touches on the Universal. Vickie Aldous

  • 2005

    • Exhibition Catalog. COLLAGE Signs & Surfaces
    • The Village Voice. A Show With All the Pleasures of a Highly Refined Flea Market. Leslie Camhi
    • The Finnish Update. Maritta Tapanainen Luo Uutta Elämää Vanhoista Oppikirjoista. Anne Leino

  • 2002

    Los Angeles Times. The World Evolves in Vibrant Collages. Leah Ollman

  • 2001

    Exhibition Catalog. By Nature’s Design

  • 2000

    • Los Angeles Times. Promising New World: Maritta Tapanainen. Leah Ollman
    • Artscene. Maritta Tapanainen. Marge Bulmer
    • LA Weekly. Art Pick of the Week. Peter Frank

  • 1995

    Exhibition Catalog (online). P.L.A.N.: Photography Los Angeles Now