Johan Andersson graduated from Central St. Martins in 2008 and became the youngest ever person to be shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award and named in The Independent's top 20 Artists 2008.
Since then Johan has exhibited work alongside artists including Anish Kapoor, Tracy Emin, Sarah Lucas, Gavin Turk and Howard Hodgkin and in 2010 was selected by Sky Arts as the "one to watch" young British Contemporary Artist and featured in a 6 week Documentary called "Art of Survival".
In his new series "In Vision" Johan uses colour to take the characters beyond the physical to spiritual. It looks at the ordinary and unnoticed person and 'awakens' the face using paint to create a dream-like fantasy quality. He is also adding new paintings to his on-going series "Stolen Faces" which seeks to give representation and visibility to those who do not conform to the artificial and image conscious. The paintings challenge preconceptions about beauty and identity whilst the subjects retain both an ephemeral and intense presence, provoking a cognitive dissonance. By its nature, this encourages the viewer to confront their preconceptions of identity in a manner that is uniquely uncompromising. |
Admission is free
Opening times:
10am - 1pm
Saturday 12, Sunday 13, Monday 14, Tuesday 15, closed Wednesday, Thursday 17 (tbc), Friday 18
The Long Gallery, Englefield House, Theale, Reading RG7 9EN
