Anu Pentik
{{Short description|Finnish ceramicist (born 1942)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2023}}
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| alt = photo of Anu Pentik in 1987
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| birth_name = Eeva Anneli Pasi
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|08|03|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Kuusankoski, Finland
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| known_for = Ceramic design
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Eeva Anneli ("Anu") Pentikäinen ({{nee}} Pasi; born 3 August 1942),{{cite news |title=Anu Pentik 70 vuotta |url=https://www.hs.fi/ihmiset/art-2000002548653.html |access-date=9 November 2023 |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=2 August 2012 |language=fi}} better known professionally as Anu Pentik, is a Finnish designer and ceramicist.
Early life and education
Pentik's mother died when she was only six, after which she had to assume responsibility for running the household.
She trained as a home economist ({{langx|fi|kotitalousteknikko}}), and later as arts & crafts instructor.{{cite news |title="Vahvan vision johdattama" – Anu Pentik sai muotoilun valtionpalkinnon |url=https://www.kaleva.fi/vahvan-vision-johdattama-anu-pentik-sai-muotoilun-/4118551 |access-date=9 November 2023 |work=Kaleva |date=17 November 2021 |language=fi}}
Pentik is largely self-taught; pottery-making and leather craft started as her hobbies, before she decided to try her hand at them professionally.
Career
Pentik set up her eponymous ceramics and interior design business {{ill|Pentik|fi}} in Posio, Lapland, in 1971, together with her husband Topi Pentikäinen.{{cite web |title=Pentik |url=https://uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-170045-Pentik |website=Uppslagsverket.fi |access-date=9 November 2023 |language=sv}} The first products were sold at the village petrol station.
The first retail store in Helsinki opened five years later, and over the next forty years the business grew to comprise 80 stores in Finland and other Nordic countries, making it one of Finland's leading design businesses.{{cite news |title=Anu Pentik, taiteilijaelämää Posiolla |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2008/02/11/anu-pentik-taiteilijaelamaa-posiolla |access-date=9 November 2023 |publisher=Yle |date=5 July 2012 |language=fi}} The company is known for its focus on employee well-being, work-life-balance, and flexible work time arrangements. It employs over 300 staff, of whom {{circa}} 80% are women.
Pentik has remained throughout the artistic director of the family business, working full time into her late 70s.
Design
Pentik's designs are characterised by warm colours and organic shapes, and have been described as atmospheric.
Her products are designed to be sustainable, safe and long-lasting.{{cite news |title=Anu Pentik työskentelee intohimoisesti ja lumoutuu kauneudesta |url=https://areena.yle.fi/podcastit/1-4179145 |access-date=9 November 2023 |publisher=Yle |date=3 September 2017 |language=fi}}
Exhibitions (selected)
In 1993, Pentik co-exhibited alongside her fellow industrial designers Kaija Aarikka and Vuokko Nurmesniemi, in an exhibition titled "Kolme naista, kolme elämäntyötä" ({{literally}} "Three women, three lifeworks") in Ikaalinen.{{cite news |title=Taideteollisuuden kolme vahvaa naista esiintyvät yhdessä |url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000003290567.html |access-date=9 November 2023 |work=Helsingin Sanomat |date=10 December 1993 |language=fi}}
In 2006, she held her 35-year-retrospective exhibition "Intohimona keramiikka" ({{literally}} "Ceramics as passion") at the Retretti art museum in Punkaharju.{{cite news |title=Anu Pentik - Intohimona Keramiikka |url=https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/anu-pentik-intohimona-keramiikka/3257146 |access-date=9 November 2023 |work=MTV Uutiset |date=30 June 2006 |language=fi}}
In 2017, Pentik's two-month solo exhibition "Three Rooms" in Kunsthalle Helsinki formed part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of Finland's independence.{{cite web |title=Anu Pentik: Three Rooms (11.3.–14.5.2017) |url=https://taidehalli.fi/en/events/anu-pentik-three-rooms/ |publisher=Kunsthalle Helsinki |access-date=9 November 2023}}{{cite news |title=76-vuotiaalla Anu Pentikillä 12 tunnin työpäiviä näyttelyn teossa |url=https://www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000005834836.html |access-date=9 November 2023 |work=Ilta-Sanomat |date=23 September 2018 |language=fi}}
In 2020, she held a 50-year-retrospective solo exhibition at the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art in Turku.
Awards and honours
In 2012, Anu Pentik was conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of Lapland's Faculty of Art and Design.{{cite web |title=Lapin yliopistoon 12 uutta kunniatohtoria |url=https://www.ulapland.fi/FI/Uutiset/Uutisarkisto/2012?showmodul=149&newsid=13b81599-a13a-4ad6-b3aa-99375bd76379 |publisher=University of Lapland |access-date=9 November 2023 |language=fi}}
In 2014, she was awarded the {{ill|Pro Finlandia|fi}} medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland.{{cite web |title=Suomen Leijonan Pro Finlandia -mitalin saajat |url=https://ritarikunnat.fi/ritarikunnat/palkitut/suomen-leijonan-pro-finlandia-mitalin-saajat-aakkosjarjestyksessa/ |website=Ritarikunnat.fi |publisher=The Orders of the White Rose of Finland and the Lion of Finland |access-date=9 November 2023 |language=fi}}
In 2021, Pentik received the Finnish State Prize for Design in recognition of her 50-year-career.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Portal|Finland|Visual arts}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pentik, Anu}}
Category:People from Kuusankoski
Category:Pro Finlandia Medals of the Order of the Lion of Finland