Viggo Wallensköld (1969) has his roots in Estonia, but his flowers bloomed in Finland.
Ilse, the grandmother of Viggo Wallensköld, was born at the beginning of the previous century in the beautiful farm of Ollandi, on the right-hand coast of Pärnu River in Tori parish.
Hardly a grown-up, the young girl went to study agriculture in Finland. She fell in love, married and gave birth to her daughter Heljä, so she stayed in Porvoo, Finland. There, her grandson Viggo was born, who has become one of the most outstanding painters of the 21st century.
The breakthrough of Viggo Wallensköld started in 2002 when he won the art prize of Finland – Dukatti. In 2005 he was elected the best young artist of the year. Not long ago he applied for the Ars Fennica prize and in 2022, at the spring exhibition which is connected to the nominations, was elected the favourite artist of the audience.
One of Viggo’s greatest exhibitions took place in 2008–2009 in St. Petersburg, at the Russian Museum and the other in 2022–2023 at the Art Museum of Helsinki (HAM).
Viggo Wallensköld is also a writer, having written five literary works about a fictional scientist, a mycologist Anatolij D. Mbdrinov. The initial stories focus on Mbdrinov’s life and research, changing our understanding of mushrooms and human mind.
At the exhibition Roots and Blossoms Viggo and his mother Heljä Wallensköld (1943) present their paintings full of symbols. Heljä still lives in Porvoo and despite her ninetieth decade, still paints to make every morning joyful. Viggo’s artworks of the last years recall Marcus Aurelius’s famous saying about the monument which you have to put up by yourself in your lifetime.
So, this exhibition is dedicated to finding one’s roots and it is the first joint show by Heljä and Viggo.
Supporters: Estonian Cultural Endowment, The Town Government of Pärnu
