Ola Kolehmainen:
The Art of Looking and Seeing. Collaboration with Art and Science

Ola Kolehmainen, a pioneering artist in contemporary photography, has used architecture as inspiration since the 90s. After earning his degree from Helsinki University of Art and Design in 1999, he didn’t follow traditional architectural photography; instead, he focused on architectural forms. Starting with Helsinki’s modernist icons by Alvar and Aino Aalto, Kolehmainen developed a unique style by magnifying architectural details and reducing them to color and form elements. Moving to Berlin in the 2000s, he refined an abstract language evident in exhibitions like Golden Hall (2001) and Sense of Volume (2015).

In 2013, an Istanbul commission shifted his focus to sacred Ottoman architecture, specifically the work of Mimar Sinan, leading him to explore ancient inspirations like Hadrian’s Pantheon and Byzantine churches. This expanded to museums, creating a “memory theater” that dives into the history of science and art.

His latest exhibition, The Art of Looking and Seeing, showing in Berlin, explores themes like knowledge, religion, and politics through works from museums across Europe, collaborating with Dr. Susanna Pettersson