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Maija Isola

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Maija Isola (1927-2001) was a leading Finnish designer of printed textiles. She also had a career as a visual artist.[1]

Life and career

The glowing colours and bold patterns in Marimekko owe much to Maija Isola's design and example

After studying painting at the Helsinki Central School of Industrial Arts, Isola became principal textile designer for Marimekko.[2]

According to FinnStyle, she was "undisputedly the most famous textile designer to have existed at Marimekko"[3], and she "created over 500 prints during her long and colorful employment."[3]

Ivar Ekman, writing in the New York Times, quotes Marianne Aav, director of the Helsinki Design Museum: "What we understand as the Marimekko style is very much based on what Maija Isola was doing".[4] Ekman comments "The range of prints that Isola produced for Marimekko is astounding", as the patterns span "minimalistic geometric", "toned-down naturalistic" and "explosion of colors".[4]

According to Tamsin Blanchard, writing in The Observer, "The designs of Maija Isola - one of the company's original and longest-standing designers - have stood the test of time."[5] Blanchard describes as "timeless" Isola's 1972 Wind design "with its feathery organic tree skeletons in silhouette", her 1957 Putinotko "spiky black-and-white print", her 1963 Melon and her 1956 Stones.[5]

Hannah Booth, writing in The Guardian, explains that Marimekko's founder, Armi Ratia, "recruited Maija Isola, the first and most important of many young female designers, to create original prints".[6] She describes Isola as "unconventional", leaving her daughter Kristina "to grow up with her grandmother so she could travel the world to find inspiration for her textiles".[6] Booth quotes Finnish novelist Kaari Utrio as saying Isola was "a dangerously original character"; she "belonged to a trailblazing generation" enabling young women to move freely into the arts.[6]

Painting

Isola left Marimekko in 1987.[4] She worked on painting, not textiles, until her death in 2001.[4]

Exhibitions

  • Maija Isola and Marimekko, Retrospective exhibition, Design Museum (Designmuseo), Helsinki, Finland. 24 May 2005 - 4 September 2005.[7]

Bibliography

  • Fiell, Charlotte and Peter. Design of the 20th Century Taschen, 2001. ISBN 3-8228-5542-1
  • Isola, Kristina. Maija Isola: Life, Art, Marimekko. Design Museo, 2005. ISBN 978-9529878420
  • Aav, Marianne. Marimekko: Fabrics, Fashion, Architecture. Yale University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0300101836
  • Fogg, Marnie. 1960s Fashion Print: A Sourcebook. Batsford, 2008. ISBN 978-0713490541

References

  1. ^ "Maija Isola". Marimekko. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  2. ^ "Maija Isola patterns for Marimekko". Design Finland. 31 August 2006. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  3. ^ a b "FinnStyle:Maija Isola". Finnish Designers: Maija Isola. FinnStyle. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d Ekman, Ivar (August 23, 2005). "New York Times". Nostalgia for a modern Finnish designer. New York Times. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  5. ^ a b Blanchard, Tamsin (20 May 2001). "The Observer". Interiors:Marimekko:The Finnish Line. The Guardian. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  6. ^ a b c Booth, Hannah (5 September 2005). "The Guardian: Life & Style: Women". Flower power. The Guardian. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  7. ^ Retrospective exhibition at Designmuseo
  8. ^ Exhibition Marimekko at Sem in Ljubljana
  9. ^ Exhibition at Minneapolis Institute of Arts

External links

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