Mari Rantanen, 4th Elfi Award
Luminous, bold, colorful and poetic, Mari Rantanen’s abstract paintings reflect her interest in architecture, the places people build for themselves, and the life lived in those structures. Her exploration of the history and presence of visual culture, of systems and patterns and the interpretation of cultural experience fill her paintings with emotional resonance. Mari has consistently followed her own path over a more-than-four-decade career, influenced by Scandinavian concretism as well as American abstract geometric painting, she has claimed her own bold color scheme, oranges, pinks, yellows, greens and purples in recurring shapes and patterns.
Learn more about Mari Rantanen …
The Elfi von Kantzow Alvin Art Award is awarded to a woman visual artist with outstanding talent, vision and perseverance with strong ties to one of the 5 Nordic countries.
Instituted by the American Scandinavian Society in 2019, the Elfi Art Award honors and continues in the spirit of Elfi von Kantzow Alvin’s tireless efforts for Scandinavian artists and the Scandinavian community in New York for over 60 years.
Recipients receive “the Elfi” Statuette by Tony Rubin Sjöman Swedish/Finnish past Cultural Grant recipient.
Congratulations to the 4th Recipient, Mari Rantanen.
Past Recipients
Tine Lundsfryd, 3rd Elfi Award
Tine Lundsfryd lives and works in Brooklyn. She was born and raised on the Island of Falster in Denmark. Growing up in a family of nature lovers, much of her youth was spent on the many beaches and countless little forests the island has to offer. Over her three decades in New York City, Tine has continued to explore the field of abstract painting, in particular the fields of geometric abstraction and process painting.
MIA ENELL, 2nd Elfi Award
Mia ENELL is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in painting and drawing as well as photography, video, installation and sculpture. She is best known for her paintings, watercolors and drawings depicting the eccentricities of her inner life, often with humor and a surrealist bent.
(Image: Mia Enell in front detail of her painting, “Man Eater, Mother Earth” (2020) acrylic on canvas 75 x 92 inches)
Eva Faye, 1st Elfi Award
Eva Faye is a Norwegian born artist. She grew up in Bærum, on the outskirts of Oslo, surrounded by nature, and that experience shapes her artwork still today. Her goal is to reflect the inner nature of things in her art. She sees her work as part memory, part dream, part observation.
Elfi von Kantzow Alvin (1922-2020)
Elfi von Kantzow Alvin (1922-2020) was born in Sweden in 1922 and lived in Vienna, Budapest, Milan and Paris before settling in NY in 1948. Educated as a Scenic Designer at the Kunstakademie Vienna, she was resident designer at Vasateatern, Stockholm before moving to NY where she became the 1st woman Set Designer in the United Scenic Artist’s Union. After designing many sets for Broadway shows and CBS television, she had a second career as Interior Designer with Ellen McCluskey Associates. Elfi was an active member of the ASF & American Scandinavian Society from the 1960’s along with her Danish husband Ib Alvin. They were both past Presidents, Board Members, and Elfi was variously Program Committee Chair and organized multiple programs every year before founding the Art Program in 1978. In addition to all of the exhibitions she curated, Elfi also organized artists studio tours, gallery tours and other programming for the Society members.
As an accomplished artist, costume, set and interior designer, Elfi founded the Art Program of the American Scandinavian Foundation on 73rd street in 1978 and continued with the American Scandinavian Society. She curated 85 exhibitions featuring more than 250 artists from the 5 Nordic Countries for over 38 years on behalf of these organizations. She was committed to giving Scandinavian artists a chance to be seen and exhibited in NYC. Elfi was known as ‘the fairy godmother of Scandinavian artists’ and for her multitude of contributions to Scandinavian culture in the US, was awarded a gold medal from the King of Sweden as well as the Finnish Order of the Lion, and honored by the Danish American Society.
The Elfi Art Award program is chaired by her daughter, Curator, Art Consultant and Collector Anita Alvin Nilert.