Biography

Eija-Liisa Ahtila is a contemporary visual artist and filmmaker. She experiments with narrative storytelling in her films and cinematic installations. In her earlier works she has dealt with the unsettling human dramas at the center of personal relationships, dealing e.g. with teenage sexuality, family relations, mental disintegration and death. Her later works, however, deal with more profound and basic artistic questions where she investigates the processes of perception and attribution of meaning, at times in the light of a larger cultural and existential thematic like colonialism, faith and posthumanism.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila studied at the University of California, Los Angeles, at the London College of Printing and at the University of Helsinki. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows at: Guggenheim, Bilbao; Oi Futura, Rio de Janeiro; Albright Knox Art Gallery; The Israel Museum; Serlachius Museum, Finland; Lehmbruck Museum, Germany; Kiasma, Finland; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; DHC/Art Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal; Jeu de Paume Paris; K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Parasol Unit, London; Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bolzano, Italy; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland; Kunsthalle Zurich; Tate Modern, London.

Awards 2013, Main Prize, Art Lab category, Festival Internazionale del Cinema d'Arte, Milan, Italy. (work: The Annunciation) 2012, Arte Award for Best European Film, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany. (work: The Annunciation) 2009, Title of Academician of Art, presented by the President of Finland, Helsinki, Finland. 2008, The Prince Eugen Medal for outstanding artistic achievement, Stockholm, Sweden. 2006, Artes Mundi, Wales International Visual Arts Prize, Cardiff, UK. 2005, Pro Finlandia Medal, Order of the Lion of Finland, Helsinki, Finland. 2002, Great Prize Fiction, Vila do Conde International Short Film Festival, Portugal. (Work: Love is a Treasure) 2002, Best Fiction Prize, Kettupäivät Film Festival, Helsinki, Finland. (Work: Love is a Treasure) 2002, Quality Production Award, National Council for Audiovisual Arts, Helsinki, Finland. 2000, The Vincent van Gogh Bi-annual Award for Contemporary Art in Europe, Maastricht, The Netherlands. 2000, Coutts Contemporary Art Foundation Award, Zurich, Switzerland. 2000, Best Nordic Short Film, Nordisk Panorama, Bergen, Norway. (Work: Consolation Service) 2000, Main Prize, National Competition, Tampere International Short Film Festival, Finland. (Work: Consolation Service) 2000, Quality Production Award, National Council for Audiovisual Arts, Helsinki, Finland. 1999, Honorary Mention, 48th Venice Biennale, Italy. (Work: Consolation Service) 1999, Quality Production Award, National Council for Audiovisual Arts, Helsinki, Finland. 1998, Edstrand Art Prize, Malmö, Sweden. 1998, International Competition Film Award, Viper International Festival for Film and New Media, Basel, Switzerland. (Work: Today) 1998, Bonn Videonale, WDR Prize for female artist, Bonn, Germany. (Work: Today) 1997, Jury's Honorary Mention, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany. (Work: Today) 1997, National Competition, Main Prize, Tampere International Short Film Festival, Finland. (Work: Today) 1997, AVEK -award for important achievements in the field of audio-visual culture, Helsinki, Finland. 1997, International Competition Film Award, Viper International Festival for Film and New Media, Basel, Switzerland. (Work: If 6 was 9) 1993, Quality Production Award, National Council for Audiovisual Arts, Helsinki, Finland. 1990, Young Artist of the Year Award, Tampere, Finland.
- IMDb mini biography by: Crystal Eye