Sculptor Arvo Siikamäki has died

Sculptor Arvo Siikamäki has died after a long illness at the age of 82.

Art center Salmela informed about it.

Siikamäki had an exceptionally wide and diverse artistic production. He belonged to the generation of artists who, starting in the 1960s, brought new views and international influences to Finnish sculpture. His life’s work is a significant part of Finnish cultural heritage.

Siikamäki was from the side villages of Saarijärvi. His father was a small farmer and there were nine children in the family. They grew up a couple of kilometers away Tapper taiteilija­veljekset.

“As little boys, we used to go swimming and fishing in the river by the Tapperite house. I remember when the mother of the family threw a catfish into the water to make it splash”, Siikamäki told in HS In his 60th anniversary interview in 2003.

Siikamäki had a strong international career since the mid-1960s. He participated in several prestigious exhibitions, such as the Paris Biennale (1967), São Paulo Biennale (1970) and Middelheim Biennale (1979). His works widely represented Finland in different parts of the world.

Siikamäki the handprint can be seen in many Finnish public spaces. He executed numerous public works, monuments and tombstones. The most famous are the author Toivo Pekkanen memorial (Kotka, 1985) and placed in the House of Parliament Discussion about the future (1981).

Siikamäki memorials can also be found in cemeteries across Finland, for example in Kuopio (At the source of eternity1990), from Kajaani (An empty tomb1999) and from Helsinki (Gate to Eternity, 2001).

In due course Siikamäki’s work received a lot of publicity from the crouching woman erected in the yard of the office building in Jyväskylä Captured motion in (1980). According to many locals, the woman in the statue was drinking suspiciously.

President Urho Kekkonen was once coming to visit the city, and the statue was considered too obscene for the eyes of the distinguished guest.

“Someone suggested that we keep it hidden until the president has visited. He would have been happy,” the sculptor guessed the president’s reaction in an interview with HS.