Arc

Lanu Park in Lahti was built between 1989 and 1992. The city of Lahti commissioned a total of 12 sculptures from Olavi Lanu to be placed in the deciduous Kariniemenmäki forest. The starting point of the sculptures was the body of work Lanu created for the Venice Biennale in 1978, entitled Life in the Finnish Forest, in which he explored the relationship between humanity and nature in various ways. Cast in concrete at the Renkomäki gravel pit, the sculptures in the park imitate natural materials. Blending in with their surroundings, the sculptures were all sited by the artist himself.

Olavi Lanu (1925–2015) was a visual artist, teacher and prominent figure in the Lahti art scene.

Arc in Lanu Park is a concrete sculpture with a span of five and a half metres. It was inspired by a pine tree that had grown into an arch between two stones at Lake Saimaa. In the sculpture, the trunk of the tree has assumed the form of a human figure bent into an arch, with elements imitating boulders at either end. The model for the work was Lanu’s daughter Tessa. Stripped of all superfluous detail and stretched to extremes, the human figure is endowed with a hushed, dramatic quality that captivates the eye and evokes bodily sensations and even humour. It is said that the work was a particularly difficult and demanding project for the artist because of its challenging form.

Artwork on the map

In Lanu Sculpture Park. – Kariniemenpuistotie 49, Lahti.
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