The Kirpilä Art Collection is set to host the coming together of two collectors when Seppo Fränti’s art collection is placed alongside that of Juhani Kirpilä from 31 August to 7 December 2025.

The Third Life exhibition examines art collecting as a way of life and invites visitors to dive into the motives for, meaning behind, and opportunities for collecting. The exhibition will showcase a selection of pieces from the collection Fränti donated to the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in 2017, as well as new acquisitions since the donation. The exhibition has been curated by Mia Dillemuth and Johanna Ruohonen.

The exhibition’s name refers to how Fränti has segmented his life: being held hostage on the island of Jolo in 2000 was the first turning point, while donating his art collection in 2017 was the second.

“Fränti is a collector at heart, and this exhibition shows that his passion for art has by no means diminished since turning over his art collection to Kiasma. The Kirpilä Art Collection is a fantastic venue in which to present Fränti’s collection, being the place where his collecting journey began,” explains Museum Director Heta Kaisto.

Third Life also harks back to Seppo Fränti’s friendship with Juhani Kirpilä and Kirpilä’s partner Karl ‘Kalle’ Rosenqvist. The trio spent time together at the couple’s apartment on Pohjoinen Hesperiankatu, and as a young student at Ateneum, Fränti was involved in hanging pieces in the penthouse in Töölö. Inspired by Kirpilä, Fränti started his own art collection at the turn of the 1980s.

The collection of pieces in ‘Seppo’s room’ taking shape at the Kirpilä Art Collection enters into a dialogue with the other works displayed in the museum. The connection encourages visitors to think about art collecting as a part of personal and shared cultural heritage. Both collections focus on Finnish paintings from their own era – and in particular portraits and figurative expression. Third Life features Fränti’s recurring signature themes: Christian symbols, a dream-like quality, surrealism, skulls and playfulness.

Fränti and Kirpilä’s choices when it comes to purchasing art have always been grounded in emotion above all else.

“I have to be able to identify with a piece – to live and exist with it. It’s really important that I can get inside a piece in some way or another, a superficial connection isn’t enough. I’ve got to be able to see the artist’s soul in their art,” Fränti explains.

Over the course of his long career, Fränti has solidified his position as a patron of the arts, supporting young artists in particular. He describes himself as a collector who wants to understand when others are in need. “The desire to help comes from the heart.”

Artists featured in the exhibition:

Petri Ala-Maunus, Erik Creutziger, Jussi Goman, Petri Hytönen, Mimosa Isomäki, Anne Koskinen, Ville Kylätasku, Joni Kärkkäinen, Kalle Leino, Iisa Maaranen, Olli Marttila, Hugo Murtoniemi, Teemu Mäenpää, Paavo Paunu, Erno Pennanen, Jussi Pyky, Janne Räisänen, Jarkko Räsänen, Kim Somervuori, Jenny Suhonen, Eeva Tiisala, Minnamari Toukola, Ukko Viholainen, Henry Wuorila-Stenberg, and Riitta Åkerstedt.

Over the course of the exhibition, the Kirpilä Art Collection will be organising visits to other collections and working with Kunsthalle Helsinki to organise various discussion events and themed tours related to collecting art. The programme will shine a spotlight on other collectors and approaches to collecting, as well as offering inspiration for building one’s own art collection.

The Third Life exhibition publication will be available to buy at the opening event, featuring the likes of an article by Sanna Lipponen about motives for collecting art and a series of photographs by Helen Korpak of Seppo Fränti and his collection.

The exhibition will be open to the public from 31 August to 7 December 2025.

Photos: Helen Korpak

Kirpilä Studio is a curated online gallery. Artists invited to participate in the project are encouraged to engage with Juhani Kirpilä’s unique art collection and the atmospheric environment of the museum—exploring the space both through its architecture and curated collection, as well as its history as a private residence.

The first artist featured in Kirpilä Studio is photographer Sandra Kantanen (b. 1974), who created a collage-like triptych titled Ikkuna (Window) during spring 2025. In Kantanen’s work, the private home and public museum, art and nature, past and present enter into a new kind of dialogue.

Kantanen’s practice delicately weaves together photography, painting, and digital techniques. Her works inhabit the borderlands between dream and reality, exploring landscape both as an inner experience and as an aesthetic form. In her new series, Kantanen approached Juhani Kirpilä’s collection in a poetic and deeply personal way, layering elements of home, landscape, and memory. She describes her working process as follows:

 “The three-part series Ikkuna (Window) explores Juhani Kirpilä, his home, and his love for art. As a visual artist, I’m inspired by the idea that there are people who find happiness through art. I’ve created excerpts – or windows – into the world beyond, surrounding them with fragments gathered from the collector’s home. They form a kind of altar to art, or a collector’s view. Carpets take flight, and the outlines of houseplants bring nature indoors. I’ve taken liberties with the collection works: altered them to my liking, removed and added elements. I hope the late artists don’t take offense!”

Sandra Kantanen’s work was recently exhibited at Saatchi Gallery in London as part of the group exhibition Flowers – Flora in Contemporary Art & Culture, and is on view until August 24 as part of Blur / Obscure / Distort: Photography and Perception at the Norton Museum of Art in Florida. Discover more about Sandra Kantanen here.