Oiva Toikka in retrospect

One of the grand names of Finnish design, Oiva Toikka (born 1931) is celebrating his 50th anniversary as a designer for Iittala. In honour of the event, Design Museum in Helsinki has organized a major retrospective of Toikka’s work as its summer exhibition.

Toikka’s work is characterized by playfulness, imagination, and rich colors. He is a constant explorer, who also feels at home with textiles, opera sets and stage costumes in addition to his extensive range of ceramics and glass design. At home in Finland and internationally, he is widely known for glass birds, but he says, “I don’t want to be a birdman.”

 

Toikka’s professional association with Iittala began at the Arabia factory’s Art Department in 1956-1959 with stylized ceramic animal figurines. He began his work with glass at Iittala’s Nuutajärvi glass factory in 1963, and this intensive association has continued to the present day.

 

The Design Museum’s exhibition Oiva Toikka – Moments of Ingenuity presents the designer’s career and work from the early ceramic sculptures to his contemporary designs in glass and plastics. The exhibits include his popular collections of glassware, the sought-after glass birds, and magnificent ornamental one-off works of art such as Lollipop and The Cubes. The exhibition is a journey into Toikka’s colourful world of fairy tale.

 

The exhibition is accompanied by a new book on Toikka’s artworks and design objects, as well as Design Museum’s web exhibition on Toikka’s extensive oeuvre. 

 

Oiva Toikka – Moments of Ingenuity at Design Museum through September 19, 2010