Vainuddintie 72-28, 01150 Söderkulla
COLLECTION

Empress Alcofribas Nasier

Ilona Niemi

3000 €

‘The Cat and Pigeon Party’ exhibition takes its name from Ilona Niemi’s art school party, which was held by female painting students in her flat in Aberdeen’s Castlegate Square. These parties, a quarter of a century ago, involved dressing up in long 70s party dresses bought for a pound at the Cats’ Protection League flea market, drinking a cheerful Martini Bianco or super-strong White Lightning cider, dancing to the Pogues, browsing Vogue, waving giant Styrofoam mouths at passers-by from the windowsill and shouting slogans like Lady Knows Best or Boys for Biscuits. Cats and pigeons in the square were a natural part of the celebrations, questioning prevailing ideas about art and femininity with a touch of irrepressible humour.

Ilona Niemi depicts femininity in her works, often painting human animal figures. This approach is ancient in art – already in Lascaux’s cave there is a drawing of a human bird. Niemi draws on art history, myths, poetry and life in general: the natural and the artificial are mixed, gender is blurred, and animal and human are equal.

Niemi holds a Master of Fine Arts from Scotland and the United States (2007), and a degree in English Language and Literature and a Master of Arts (Åbo Akademi, 2001). Niemi’s work has been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London (2002), the Gescheidle Gallery in Chicago (2007) and the Royal Scottish Academy (2022). The artist has had solo exhibitions at the Joensuu and Salo Art Museums, and a large-scale commissioned work in front of EMMA (2019-2021). Niemi’s works are in the collections of the Royal Scottish Academy, EMMA and several other Finnish museums, as well as in numerous private collections in Finland and abroad.

Oil on board
120 x 90cm
2025

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Ilona Niemi
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