Anton Alvarez: The Colour of Gravity at Helsinki Contemporary, Helsinki

Anton Alvarez: The Colour of Gravity is on view at Helsinki Contemporary, Helsinki

August 7-30, 2026

Helsinki Contemporary is pleased to present Swedish Chilean artist Anton Alvarez’s first solo exhibition in Finland. The Colour of Gravity presents striking ceramic sculptures that play with the human scale and challenge our perceptions of craftsmanship and the use of technology in art.

Anton Alvarez approaches artmaking through materials and processes. He designs and builds machines that he uses to create his works, combining the roles of both engineer and sculptor. In addition to ceramics, Alvarez has worked with materials such as thread and, as of late, papier mâché, creating exhibitions in which, for example, museum staff used an extruder to produce ceramic sculptures for the exhibition while it was on view. In his hands classical motifs such as the Roman pillar take a new form, appearing at the same time ancient, organic, contemporary, and out of this world. Alvarez’s works are both alluring and deceptive: although his pieces are often beautifully glazed and feature inviting textures and forms, there is also a harshness and an edge to his work.

The works in The Colour of Gravity range from large to small. The basic elements of sculpture— the sculpture itself and its base, the interplay between weight and the illusion of weightlessness, and the sculpture’s relationship to space and the human body—take centre stage. In Alvarez’s ceramic works one can sense the gravitational pull of Earth and the pressure of machinery squeezing out clay through a nozzle. The playful dialogue between the familiar and the alien, heaviness and lightness, and the mechanical and the organic makes Alvarez’s oeuvre both approachable and highly conceptual.

Anton Alvarez (b. 1980, Uppsala, Sweden) is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London and Konstfack in Stockholm. Alvarez’s works are included in the public collections of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, the Denver Art Museum, and the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg, as well as in many notable private collections around the world. Alvarez’s works have been featured in numerous solo and group shows in Europe, USA and Asia since 2014. Alvarez has created several public sculptures in Sweden and has collaborated with eg. Gucci, Fendi, Acne and Issey Miyake. The artist lives and works in Stockholm.

His debut at Helsinki Contemporary was in the group exhibition Not Enough Room to Swing a Cat (2024) alongside Jussi Goman and Santeri Lehto.

Contact
info@helsinkicontemporary.com

Helsinki Contemporary
Bulevardi 10
FI-00120 Helsinki
Finland

Photos by Jussi Tiainen