Artist of the day: Artist of the day, September 11, 2020: Markku Salo, a Finnish designer and glass artist (#1091)

Friday, September 11, 2020

Artist of the day, September 11, 2020: Markku Salo, a Finnish designer and glass artist (#1091)

Markku Juhani Salo (1954) is a Finnish designer and glass artist. In addition to its impressive glass works made with different techniques, Salo is known for its mass-produced glass objects, such as Nappi candle holders, Olive glasses and the Aava vase.

Markku Salo graduated as a visual artist from Kankaanpää Art School in 1974 and as an industrial designer from the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 1979. Until 1983, Salo worked at Salora first as a designer of televisions and sound equipment and then as head of the design department. In 1983, he moved from electronics to glass design and from Salora to Iittala-Nuutajärvi Oy's designer, where he worked at the Nuutajärvi glass factory until 1991. Since then, he has worked within his own Muotohuone Oy in Urjala's Nuutajärvi. He is also a founding member of the Nuutajärvi Gallery Cooperative NuGO and the Nuutajärvi Glass Company, as well as the Modus ry of designers and artisans.

Markku Salo uses several different techniques in his glass art, such as blowing glass into a metal mesh, connecting the glass to wood, and the pâte de verre melting method, which uses fine glass crumbs.

In addition to his work as a designer and glass artist, Salo has worked as a teacher at the University of Art and Design and the Häme University of Applied Sciences' glass industry unit in Wetterhoff, Hämeenlinna. In addition to Salora and Iittala, Salo has implemented design projects for Arabia, Aarika and Lundia, among others. Since 1987, he has held almost 40 solo exhibitions in Finland and across Europe, and in 1997 in South Korea. His works have been exhibited abroad at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and The Corning Museum of Glass and Cooper Hewitt in New York, among others.

A glass sculpture called the Wind Bag was ordered from Markku Salo in the glass-roofed lobby of the Malmitalo Cultural Center in Helsinki, which opened in 1994.

Salo was awarded the State Prize for the Arts and Crafts in 1989, the Georg Jensen Prize in 1990 and a five-year artist grant in 1992. In 1999, Salo received the Pro Finnish Design honorable mention and in 2015 the Kaj Franck Prize

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