About
Victor Rankanen (b. 1992) is a painter and visual artist based in Gothenburg, Sweden. His practice explores painting with an interest in how different visual languages can exist within the same image. He combines airbrush and traditional painting to create artificial, dreamlike environments in which familiar objects are removed from their original context and placed in a new spotlight.
The porcelain figurines and collectible objects form the main thread of Rankanen’s practice, which he has developed and explored over the years. In his side project Brev från gränsen, he has explored his Finnish heritage and family history.
Rankanen holds an MFA from the Bergen Academy of Art, where he graduated in 2020. Since graduating, his work has been acquired by both public and private collections, and he has developed his practice through exhibitions and projects in Sweden and internationally.
Solo Exhibitions
2026 Brev från gränsen. Nemeshallen. Mölnlycke
2025 Hush fiction. Kolla kolla ett galleri. Gothenburg
2024 Anthropomorphic concourse. Galleri Resistance. Gothenburg
2023 Ballpit. Galleri Gamla Farsot. Gothenburg
2017 Galleri Fisk. Bergen. Norway
2015 Frilagret. Gothenburg
2015 Gallerö. Österlenskolan för konst och design.
2013 Konstgången. Mölnlycke kulturhus
Group Exhibitions
2025 Larmar och gör sig till. Gävle Konstcentrum
2025 Överlapp. Kinesiska muren. Gothenburg
2024 Hibernal. Galleri Thomassen. Gothenburg
2024 Häst. (Falabella kultur) Sockerbruket. Gothenburg
2023 Säg det med konst. Nemeshallen. Mölnlycke
2023 Greener grass on this side. Konstnärshuset SKF. Stockholm
2022 Shopping spree. Inter.pblc. Köpenhamn.
2022 Konstambulans. Kronhuset. Gothenburg
2022 SPRING BREAK. Galleri Thomassen, Gothenburg
2022 Loungen #4. Konstnärshuset SKF. Stockholm
2021 Vad är nytt. Lindholmen. Gothenburg
2021 In(Habitat). Sockerbruket. Gothenburg
2020 MA2020. Kode 2, Bergen. Norway
2019 Make me/ Destroy me. USF visningsrommet. Bergen. Norway
2018 Nowhere Now here. Kunstakademiet I Bergen. Norway
2017 NÄ. Konstakademin Valand. Galleri Monitor. Gothenburg
2017 Essentials. Kunstakademiet i Bergen. Norway
2016 Galleri Bokboden. Bergen. Norway
2015 Galleri Roström. Malmö.
2015 Tjörnedala konsthall. Baskemölla.
2015 Inställningen är utställd. Österlenskolan för konst och design.
2015 Ystads konstmuseum.
2013 Färg och form. Frölunda kulturhus. Gothenburg
Education
2018-20 MFA, Bergen academy of art. Bergen, Norway
2015-18 BFA, Bergen academy of art. Bergen, Norway
2014-15 Österlenskolan för konst och design. Simrishamn
2011-13 Kv-konstskola. Gothenburg
Grants
2025 Helge ax:son Johnsons Stiftelse
2025 Konstnärsnämnden. One year work scholarship
2020 Norska kulturrådet. Grant for newly educated artists
2012 Härryda cultural grant