Tatu Hiltunen

Biography †

Tatu Hiltunen was born in 1977 in Kuopio, Finland and is now living Vantaa. He is member of Turbo10, photographers´collective and studio, in Helsinki.

He is Master of Arts in photography from University of Art and Design Helsinki, 2007 and Bachelor of Arts in photography from Turku Arts Academy, 2001. He has also done one year figurative communications studies in The Helsinki Christian College.

He has had private and group exhibitions from 1997 in Finland and in foreign countries. Furthermore his adventures in the art world, where his main focus is, Hiltunen has done press and commercial work nearly decade. Besides photography he has also made videos, animations, object installations, side specific art, dance choreographies, graphic design, interior design, graffiti and music.

In his art, he has shown events from everyday life, that first astonish you, then make you laugh, and finally make you cry. But he is still not interested about truthness of photography. Tragicomic attitude to life, concern of society and nature has always spiced his art when he is his focusing lenses into bizarre, weird and surreal happenings. His social art works have in a dynamic way dealt with the themes of identity, human value, materialism, collective knowledge and memory, man´s relationship with nature, death, evoking questions concerning the limits between good and bad taste. Action, movement and speed has been his trademark for years. Now he is discovering potentials and resources of stop motion animation.

He has won prizes from domestic and foreign competions and exhibitions; ia in 2005 he was winner of Turku Biennal, Holiness-Unholiness, (curator John T. Spike) and winner of public vote too. In 2005, 3rd award in multimedia art at Firenze Biennal of Contemporary Art 2005 at Italy. He has been also nominee for Fotofinlandia in 2006. Besides private and company collections in Finland and in foreign countries, he has his works in museums´ collections: The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki Art Museum, Finland and Sundsvall Art Museum, Sweden.

In year 2009 he is having his first private only stop motion videos exhibition in Hippolyte. Few group exhibitions abroad are taking place in relation to Backlight 2008 photographic triennal. He is currently doing TV-series about subcultures with national Finnish television channel YLE. It is going to be in TV in autumn 2009.