Korhonen (Olli)

The following text is an article about Finnish outsider artist Niilo Rytkönen (1928-2018), as it was originally published in 2003 in a regional newspaper by Finnish free lance journalist Olli Korhonen from Suonenjoki. Although Niilo’s creation in 2003 already had attracted attention of ITE-experts, and he had been invited to take part in ITE-exhibitions in Helsinki and Kaustinen, in his own community he was hardly seen as an artist.

So this publication in a regional newspaper may be the first one that introduced Niilo Rytkönen as an outsider artist. The translation into English has been reviewed and authorized by the author.

A slightly revised, updated finnish version, was published on october 5^th, 2011, on Korhonen's weblog.

Olli Korhonen,

Niilo Rytkönen: art directly from nature

It is a miracle how long Niilo Rytkönen, who lives in Suonenjoki, has been able to remain fairly unnoticed among the inhabitants of the community. It seems that Niilo is more famous in the south of Finland and the Ostrobothnia region, than he is at Suonenjoki Town Hall.

However, of all the places worth seeing in Suonenjoki , if it only had ever been acknowledged as one, Niilo’s place is probably the only one that leaves no visitor untouched.

Notwithstanding the somewhat remote location of the farm, surprisingly many visitors have found their way there to admire Niilo’s amazing art.

They have discovered the place, perhaps not in great numbers, a little more than one hundred visitors this summer, although the modest artist himself has not been looking for publicity.

And it is really art that Niilo – or maybe I should say Nature – makes. I say this because for me the most important criterion of making art has always been an artist's desire and courage to see things in his own way. This courage Niilo does not lack..

Paavo Lipponen's private parts

For about twenty years 75-year-old Niilo has been bringing all kinds of rocks and tree stumps found in nature to his farm. In these items he has seen characters of animals and birds.

In addition, he has used old clothes from flea markets and agricultural tools to make some very meaningful constructs, which, in the form of dolls, all have their own places in the former fields around the farm.

All this and much more can be admired by a random passer-by who travels the old and hilly road to Pieksämäki. And what is more, the visitor is always free to stop and leave his car to admire Niilo’s wonderful creations. Niilo will be more than happy to talk about their history and how they were named.

When this happens, Niilo will tell you how the most hilarious of his works were created. You will learn about the Somalis, and (Finnish politicians) Paavo Lipponen, Anneli Jäätteenmäki, Seppo Kääriäinen and many others. Not forgetting erotics. For example, Paavo Lipponen, whose even most intimate body parts have been depicted in detail.

These works do indeed reflect the artist's philosophy that art should give the viewer joy and pleasure.

Creations at the ITE Exhibition

Niilo’s collection currently includes over a thousand items, of which several hundred are situated around the farm.

The public can gain access to Niilo’s art by paying a visit to his farm, near a river in the rural area of Suonenjoki, but some of his works have been on display at the ITE ( i.e. outsider art) exhibition, which first was located in Helsinki and now at the Folk Art Center in Kaustinen.

The initiator of the exhibition, where you can see works from several folk artists, was the Union for Rural Education and Culture.

Removed from where they came into being, Niilo’s works, however, lose part of their initial strength, which can only be experienced by visiting the site.

As yet Niilo has not been able to sell his art, but he is very confident about the future.

Nevertheless, working for commercial success is not his topmost concern. He is more inspired by thinking about new projects.

At the moment, he sees good potential in working with old farming utensils. In particular, various items made from wrought iron by blacksmiths inspire him very much.

For this reason, anyone who is in possession of these items and who wishes to give them to Niilo, is welcome to give him a call. If necessary, the artist is also prepared, if nothing prevents him from doing it, to come and collect these goods.

Conservation of Nature is near Niilo’s heart

The one who gets something from Nature has to be willing to give something in return. This has Niilo Rytkönen understood very well and he tries to live in harmony with the environment. For example, he decided to permanently protect one hectare of his own land to make sure that the beautiful canyon of the river Kutunjoki would remain in its natural state. An important reason for the protection was the fact that a rare plant, Veronica longifolia, was known to grow along the river.

added to OEE texts dec 2011