Ola Kolehmainen, (*1964, Helsinki) lives and works in Berlin since 2005. He studied at the University of Art and Design, Helsinki (TaiK) and became one of the most visible and successful artists  of the first Helsinki School generation in the first decade of the 21st century. He is known for his minimalistic and abstract pictures of modern architecture, with a special interest in the work of modern masters such as Alvar Aalto and Mies van der Rohe.
His current more narrative works focus on exteriors and interiors of sacred buildings that he started after spending an intense work phase in Istanbul in 2014 researching buildings of the Ottoman and Byzantine Period. Also stunning and impressive are his recent abstract constructivist works, created by composing multilayered light structures on photographic paper.

Institutional exhibitions

Selected solo exhibitions

2017/2018
"Ola Kolehmainen", HAM Tennis Palace, Helsinki, Finland
2014
"Reason and Intuition", Museum Pitzhanger Manor House and Gallery, London, Great Britain
"Geometric light", Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany
2012
The First Kyiv International Biennale, Arsenale 202, Kiev, Ukraine
"Enlightenment" Alvar Aalto Museum, Jyväskylä, Finland
2010
17th Biennale of Sidney, Australia
2009
"A building is not a building"
KUNTSI, Museum of Modern Art, Wasa, Finland
KIASMA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
The National Museum of Photography, Kopenhagen, Denmark
The New Art Gallery, Walsall, Great Britain

Selected group exhibitions

2015
"Lichtbild und Datenbild. Spuren Konkreter Fotografie", Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg, Germany
„Freude Schöner Götter Funken- Am Anfang war das Kreuz“, ABTART, Stuttgart, Germany
2014
"Verzweigt. Bäume in der zeitgenössischen Kunst", Altana Kulturstiftung, Bad Homburg, Germany
Spuren der Moderne, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
2013
"Inside Outside Architecture", Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, Oslo, Norway
2012
Segment 1A, Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul, Turkey
2011
"Verortung. Die Frage nach dem Raum in der zeitgenössischen Kunst", Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
2010 
Daegu Photo Biennale 2010, Daegu, South Korea
2009 
"Auf der Spitze des Eisbergs", Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
2008
"Artistas y Fotógrafos — Imágenes para una colección", Museo de Madrid Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain
2007
"Helsinki School", The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland

Ola Kolehmainen is represented by:
Gallery TaiK, Berlin, Germany
Purdy Hicks, London, Great Britain
Bryce Wolkowitz, New York, USA
Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland