Ilja Karilampi
- Ilja Karilampi (*1983, Gothenburg, Sweden) is a contemporary artist whose practice spans sculpture, installation, digital works, and public art. His work draws from the visual languages of popular culture, music, internet aesthetics, and urban environments. Through sampling, collage, and symbolic abstraction, he reflects on how images, identities, and systems circulate in contemporary society.
- Karilampi studied at Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main (2005–2010) and the Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm (2008–2009). He has presented solo exhibitions internationally at institutions and galleries including MoMA PS1, New York; Index – The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation, Stockholm; Erik Nordenhake Gallery, Stockholm; Temnikova & Kasela, Tallinn; Suzanne Geiss Company, New York; Wilkinson Gallery, London; and Sandy Brown, Berlin.
- His work has also been included in major group exhibitions at venues such as Kiasma; Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; ZKM, Karlsruhe; Kunsthalle Zürich; Barbican, London; and Fondation Ricard, Paris, among others.
- Alongside his exhibition practice, Karilampi has realized numerous public art commissions in Sweden, including works for Statens Konstråd, Stockholm Konst, and Göteborg Konst. Recent projects include FolkFigur (2022), a digital public artwork, and Gbg for life yeah (2026), a large-scale public commission at Nya Masthuggskajen, Gothenburg.
- Karilampi's work is characterized by a fluid movement between physical and digital space, where high and low cultural references coexist. With humor, intensity, and sharp sensitivity to contemporary visual culture, his practice reflects the rhythms and contradictions of life shaped by technology, media, and collective experience.