Johan Wahlstrom

In Marbella, Spain, Johan Wahlstrom resides amidst mountains overlooking the Mediterranean Sea . An accomplished artist and contributor to the contemporary art scene, Johan uses his unique hand to express strength and emotion using the surrounding Spanish light, intense colors and his memories of French villages. This, integrated with a natural and honest impulsivity, makes his work both a challenge and a comfort to his audience.

Mediums chosen by Johan are canvas, wood, cardboard paper and heavy paper. He uses a mixture of acrylic colors, sand, glue, water, varnish and others. He uses a knife to create the patterns within his wood creations and applies acrylic colors and water against his cotton canvas and cardboard paper paintings. Johan also utilizes sun and rain exposure to create his unique effects.

Johan´s artwork leans into the realm of expressionism, abstract expressionism and outsider art. Many of his influences are German expressionists such as Gabrielle Munther, Karl Schmidt-Rotluff, Christian Rohlfs plus 19th century Russian painter and musician Wassily Kandinsky. His paintings blend mostly blues, oranges and reds. Some of his other more abstract compositions are thoughtful yet carefree using unpredictable color combinations and brush stroke patterns. His woodcarvings tend to use solitary and anonymous figures with clearly identifiable colors.

Johan received an informal education in the art of observation, apprenticeship, and experience. He began as a musician and his ambition led him to drop out of high school. While on tour, he spent much of his time drawing while also forming friendships with artists in Stockholm . Johan said he "used to hang out in their studios for several years getting hints and ideas." He was also raised observing the artistic talents of his mother, Ellen Tode, his grandmother, Sigrid Tode, and Waldemar Tode, his grandmother´s uncle, who is part of the National Museum of Art in Stockholm, Sweden .

His commitment to the world of visual arts wasn´t until his impulsive move to France after growing sick of his time in the music business. The artist, Lennart Nystrom, resided in the same village as Johan and they became friends. Nystrom recognized Johan´s talent and offered him guidance and encouragement through those first years as Johan built upon his skills and began showing his art. He approached the market at the end of the 90´s and [received] a very good response from art galleries and private art collectors in Europe and in The USA." Today, Johan is actively producing his art and "very happy to be able to do this and make a good portion of my living out of my art."

Johan spent a total of seven years in the south of France and many of his village scenes

(painted 2004-2006) are based on his memories of the old villages in Provence . "I love to mix perspectives," says Johan of his village interpretations, installing elements "in the wrong place." Johan has spent the last few years in Spain where he has a home situated on a mountain near the Mediterranean Sea . "The main influence in Spain is most likely the colors, there is so much orange, blue, light brown in nature here in the south of Spain and the light we have is excellent for being an artist," states Johan.

Unless questioned directly about apiece, Johan prefers his audience to gain their own idea of his work based on the painting and its title. For Johan, the statement and feeling "walk hand in hand." He hopes to "communicate a message/statement where I touch viewers feelings and make their brain spin." Also, "It seems that in many of my paintings the viewer finds a piece of themselves or pieces of thoughts that they carry."

Johan has a unique approach to his work. He "[paints] out of a name," using a working title as a prompt to apiece. The title will remain if the painting stays true to the title impression. He also listens to music he feels corresponds with his current project, accenting it with "funny noises" coming from his mouth. Johan states, "I lose contact with what´s going on around me and what time it is and for how long I have been painting."