Johan Andersson Biography

Swedish born Johan Andersson paints portraits that are full of intrigue in their subtle contradictions, which the artist describes as ‘an ambiguous and awkward underlying tension’. The naivety of youth is juxtaposed against darkness, and ethereal beauty streaked with corruption - alongside a tentative challenge of political correctness. Andersson hopes that this candid approach to his work will incite ‘an intimacy between the portrait and the viewer.’

Johan has been precociously successful, already receiving recognition in widely read publications such as Art World, and has even featured in national newspapers – including The Times and the Guardian. Exceptionally, in 2007 he became the youngest ever artist to make the top 3 in the esteemed BP Portrait award, which exhibited at the prestigious London and Edinburgh National Portrait Galleries – experience which places Andersson next to the worlds most upcoming portrait artists, such as fellow BP exhibited Opus artist Josie McCoy. In 2008 he was awarded the Jerwood Contemporary Painters Prize.