Carte Blanche à Hanna Anonen at Institut finlandais 09.09 – 19.11.2022
Inauguration on September, Thursday 8, 2021 as part of Paris Design Week.
Institut finlandais is happy to present the playful and surprising pieces of designer Hanna Anonen, winner of the Young Designer of the Year Award granted by Design Forum Finland in 2021.
Hanna Anonen is a versatile designer whose work includes space and graphic design as well as furniture and interior decoration products. Her design is characterised by bright colours and her favourite material: painted wood. Her bold and original style, which has gained international recognition, renews the subdued and minimalist image of Finnish design. Through the geometrical shapes and colours, the designer wishes to convey joy, wonder and cheerfulness.
The designer draws inspiration from urban environments and from everyday life in cities around the world to create pieces that are both surprising and practical. The series of bulbous Beebee boxes is a contemporary interpretation of Fabergé eggs, the series of colourful Plizé boxes is inspired by pleated skirts and the series of plywood Dazzle lamps by art transportation crates.
The exhibition Carte Blanche à Hanna Anonen presents several series of interior decoration pieces including Cocktail, Beebee, Dazzle, Kandili, Plizé and Pole, as well as a series of photographs representing Anonen’s brightly coloured pieces staged in the snowy, pure and harmonious landscapes of the Finnish nature.
Hanna Anonen graduated from Aalto University with a master’s degree in Applied Arts and Design in 2013 and has since worked with many Finnish institutions and brands such as
Made by Choice, Hakola, Mifuko, and Design Museum Helsinki. She lives and works in Helsinki, and loves to get inspiration from urban environments and everyday life in cities around the world for creating pieces that are both surprising and practical.
In a way, I feel like I want to reinvent the image of what modern Finnish design looks like via a playful approach… Make space for more work that defies those neutral-toned norms.
– Hanna Anonen
Photos: Mikael Niemi, Juho Huttunen, Aino Huhtaniemi.