Ola Kolehmainen ist einer der prominentesten Vertreter der »Helsinki School«. Im Zentrum seiner Arbeit steht die Auseinandersetzung mit zeitgenössischer Architektur bzw. mit der Grundstruktur von Architekturfassaden: Raster, Symmetrie und Serialität. Damit ist das Vokabular einer minimalistischen Formensprache genannt, auf die sich Kolehmainen in seinem Werk augenscheinlich bezieht und in ganz eigener Weise fortführt. Denn über diese erste Lesart hinaus stolpert man häufig über "störende" Details im Bild, die das Konzept einer klaren Ordnungsstruktur unterlaufen: ein am Bildrand angeschnittener Baum, dessen Zweige einen Teil der Fassade verdecken oder Spiegel-Fassaden, die einen (gebrochenen) Blick auf die Außenwelt reflektieren und in den einzelnen Rahmungen neue (malerische) Möglichkeiten der Bildproduktion generieren. Solche Hinweise funken wie ein "Störsignal" in die dominanten, abstrakt ornamentalen Bildprinzipien hinein.


OLA KOLEHMAINEN
born 1964, Helsinki, Finland, lives and works in Berlin

Education
1993–1999 Master of Arts in Photography, University of Art and Design Helsinki
1988–1992 University of Helsinki, Department of Journalism

Membership
1996– Union of Artist Photographers, Helsinki

Solo Exhibitions (selected)
2012 Enlightenment, Alvar Aalto Museum, Jyväskylä, Finland
2012 Gallerie Brandstrup, Oslo, Norway
2011 Gallery TaiK, Bergstraße, Berlin
2011 Gallery TaiK, Lindenstraße, Berlin
2010 17th Biennale of Sidney
2010 A Building is not a Building, KUNTSI, Museum of Modern Art, Wasa, Finland 17th Biennale of Sydney
2010 Deutsche WErkstätten, Dresden
2010 Alvar Aalto, Galeria Senda, Barcelona, Spain
2009 Galerie Vanguardia, Bilbao
2009 Galerie Brandstrup, Oslo
2009 A Building is not a Building, KIASMA, Helsinki / The National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen
2009 New Art Gallery Walsall, England
2008 PurdyHicks Gallery, London
2008 Galerie Koal, Berlin
2008 Galeria Senda, Barcelona
2007 Mirrors and Windows, Sint-Lukasgalerij, Brussels
2007 Ola Kolehmainen and Pertti Kekarainen, Galleri Brandstrup, Oslo
2006 Espace des deux arbres, Artothèque de Caen, Caen, France
2006 Fraction, Abstraction, Recreation, Galería Salvador Díaz, Madrid
2006 Arquitectura en dos dimensions, SEA, Castillo de Santa Bárbara, Alicante
2005 Space is Unknown, Galerie dominique fiat, Paris
2005 Minimalism is My Great Love, artfinder Galerie, Hamburg
2005 Search for Mastery, Galerie Neii Licht, Dudelange, Luxembourg
2004 Search for Mastery, Museum Waldhof, Kunstverein Bielefeld, Bielefeld
2004 Construction II, Galerie sphn, Berlin
2003 Construction, Galerie Anhava, Helsinki
2001 The Yellow Staircase, site-specific public work commissioned by Helsinki Festivals
2000 Golden Hall, i8 galleri, Reykjavik
1999 Pyramid, gallery installation, Zinc Gallery, Stockholm
1998 Portaikko-Trappan, gallery installation, Galleria Kari Kenetti, Helsinki
1997 Temple, gallery installation, Kluuvi Gallery, Helsinki
1996 Exitus, Rantagalleria, Oulu, Finland
1995 Exitus, Laterna Magica, Helsinki
1995 Gallery installation, Gallery Finnfoto, Helsink

Group Exhibitions (selected)
2012 Arsenale 2012, Kiev Art Biennale, Kiev, Ukraine
2012 Alles nur Fassade? Architektur als Abstraktion, Galerie Beck & Eggeling, Düsseldorf, Germany
2012 Helsinki Abstract, Curated by Olaf O. Becker, Galerie Ruzicska, Salzburg, Austria
2012 Segment 1A. Borusan Collection, Istanbul, Turkey
2011 Helsinki School. Group Show, Curated by Timothy Persons, Christophe Guye Galerie, Zurich, CH
2011 Purdy Hicks Galler, London, UK
2011 Facade: Through a Glass Darkly, National Glass Centre, University of Sunderland, UK
2011 Verortung. Die Frage nach dem Raum in der zeitgenössischen Kunst. Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
2011 Galerie Forsblom Four Positions, Helsinki
2010 Export–Import, Taidehalli Helsinki
2010 Daegu Photo Biennale 2010. The Helsinki School, Daegu, South Korea
2009 Auf der Spitze des Eisbergs – Neue Fotografie aus Finnland, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
2008 Mois de la Photo, Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris
2008 En Privat 1, Esbaluard, museu d’art modern I contemporani de palma, Palma de Majorca
2008 Artistas y Fotógrafos – Imágenes para una colección, Museo de Madrid Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid
2008 Nessuna onda può pettinare il mare, Fotografia Italiana, Milano
2007 Drei Farben – Weiss, Thema: Equality, XIV. Rohkunstbau, Schloss  Gross Leuthen, Spreewald, Germany
2007 Boogie Woogie—Art and Jazz, Kunsthalle Helsinki
2007 Stadtfinden_Moderne: A virtual tour through Interbau 1957 (International Architecture Exhibition), Berlin
2007 Helsinki School, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
2007 The Helsinki School of Photography, Purdy Hicks Gallery, London
2007 Photo Finnish: The Helsinki School, Stenersen Museum, Oslo
2006 Intersection—Between Past and Future, Pori Art Museum, Finland
2006 Ideal Cities—Invisible Cities, Zamo__, Poland
2006 1 2 3 4, the Architecture of Sauerbruch Hutton, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
2006 Minimal Quotation, Artfinder Galerie, Hamburg
2006 The Helsinki School, Hôtel de Ville de Bruxelles, Brussels
2006 Dialogue Helsinki School, Langhans Galerie Praha, Prague
2006 Helsinki School, Borås Konst Museum, Borås, Sweden
2006 Nordic Cut, Helsinki School, Art Pavilion, Zagreb, Croatia
2006 Opterracuna: Anton Henning, Ole Kolehmainen, Sven Kroner, Anj Smith, Robert Miller Gallery, New York
2005 Premio Extraordinario de Fotografia, Fundacion Aena, Madrid
2005 The Helsinki School—A New Approach, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
2005 The Helsinki School—A New Approach, Kulturhuset, Stockholm
2004 Galería Salvador Díaz, Madrid
2004 Made in Berlin, Art Forum Berlin
2004 roellin|duerr galerie, St. Gallen, Switzerland
2004 The Helsinki School, Museet for Fotokunst, Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense, Denmark
2004 30 by TaiK, The Helsinki School—A New Approach, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
2002 Le Bâti et le Vivant (The Built and theLiving), Chapelle du Rham, Luxembourg
2002 Brussels—Helsinki, La Maison d’Art Actuel des Chartreux, Brussels
2002 Helsinki—Brussels, Valkoinen Sali, Helsinki
2002 New Pictures—Brotherus, Kella, Kolehmainen, Lajunen, Parantainen, Helsinki City Art
2002 Museum, Helsink
2002 Northern Spell, Finnish Embassy, Washington D.C.
2002 Toronto University Art Center, Toronto
2002 Kuvitelmia/Fantasies, Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
2001 Magnetic North, The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, England
2001 Finnish Photography, Gallery Christian Dam, Copenhagen
2001 Gallery Christian Dam, Oslo
2000 100 Show: 90 Designers–10 Artists, Helsinki
1999 Tila–Espaces, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
1999 Spaces, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
1998 Blue You, Into Gallery, Helsinki
1998 Me, Myself and I, Bensow House, Helsinki
1996 Photography Finlandia Award, Helsinki
1996 European Photography Award, Bad Homburg, Germany

Monographs & Exhibition Catalogues
David Elliott, Alistar Hicks, Arja Miller, Taru Tappola. Ola Kolehmainen: A Building is not a Building, Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2009
Fassi, Luigi. “Nessuna onda può pettinare il mare”, exh. cat.,  Fotografia Italiana, Milano 2008
Fuchs, Martina and Gisbourne, Mark. Ola Kolehmainen: Abstraction, Fraction, Recreation, Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2007
Gisbourne, Mark. “Drei Farben – Weiss, Thema: Equality”, XIV. Rohkunstbau”, exh. cat. Spreewald, Germany, 2007
Honnef, Klaus and Protzman, Ferdinand. Ola Kolehmainen: Search for Mastery. Bielefeld: Kunstverein Bielefeld, 2004
Le Bâti et le vivant [The Built and the Living]. Exh. cat. Semaines Européennes de l’Image and Editions Café-crème. Luxembourg, 2002.
Lintonen, Kati. “Ola Kolehmainen.” Exh. cat. European Photography 17, no. 60/2 (1996).
Mäkelä, Asko. Kuvitelmia/Fantasies. Exh. cat. Sara Hildén Art Museum and Finnish Museum of Photography. Tampere and Helsinki, 2002.
Me, Myself and I. Exh. cat. University of Art and Design. Helsinki, 1998.
Molina Pilar Cimarra. “Premio Extraordinario de Fotografia”, exh. cat,  Fundacion Aena, Madrid 2005
Qinterro, OPUS 26, gravure portfolio, 1994.
Salva, Christina Ros. “En Privat 1”, exh. cat., Esbaluard, museu d’art modern I contemporani de palma, Palma de Majorca, 2008.

Works in Collections
The National Museum of Photography Collection, Denmark
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg Collection, Germany
Carl Gustav Ehrnrooth Collection, Finland
Artek Collection, Helsinki
The City of Madrid Collection, Spain
European Central Bank Collection
Societé Générale Collection, Paris, France
Colección Pilar Citoler, Madrid
Deutsche Bank, Germany, Great Britain
DZ Bank, Germany
Fundación Centro Ordóñez-Falcón de Fotografía, Spain
Peter W. Klein Collection, Germany
Malmö Art Museum, Sweden
Roland Berger Collection, Munich, Germany
European Investment Bank, Luxembourg
Heino Collection, Helsinki, Finland
Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Rovaniemi, Finland
Espoo Art Museum, Finland
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
Saastamoinen Foundation, Espoo, Finland
SOK Collection, Helsinki, Finland
City of Muurame, Finland
UPM-Kymmene Collection, Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki City Art Museum, Finland
Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
Kouri Collection, New York, NY, USA
Lars Swanljung Collection, Helsinki, Finland
State Art Council, Stockholm, Sweden
State of Finland
Private and company collections
Andorra, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, US