A look at the Works of Johan P. Jonsson

written by Houke de Kwant on September 25, 2018

Today we take a look at the works of Johan P Jonsson, an artist from Sweden with those beautiful sculptures.

Johan: “I watched Norman Mailer speak of Hemingway, saying that he, Hemingway, was a man of inconsistencies and that people of inconsistencies often, for that specific reason, turn to art. Maybe that is true for some artists, I don’t know. Maybe I’m not that interested in art; but I’m interested in inconsistencies… Putting inconsistent pieces together, colours, shapes that don’t fit. Basically, that’s what I do: I like putting things together; ugly things, broken, things that don’t fit…”

Biography:

Johan was born in Luleå, Sweden in 1966. Except for a few years in Stockholm and Gothenburg he has worked and studied in Luleå. He now divides his time between Luleå and a small village outside Skellefteå, where his studio is located

The visual art: It is sculpture in mixed media – metal, wood, fabrics, tar, leather, wire, welding filler, silicone, rust. The basis is usually metal, and usually items/materials used in agriculture and forestry. The interest, however, lies in the combination of these rural materials/items and urban ones like plastic, rubber, silicone, parts of dolls and toys…

“Junk art” might be the term when it comes to choice of “material”. When it comes to artistry, terms like “art brut” or “outsider art” are better suited.

His art is basically a process which often results in humans, figures, postures, poses. The working process more than often makes use of a welding set and chance.