HANS JÖRGEN JOHANSEN
With a profound interest in the cultural construction of patterns, their meanings and in the duplicability of modern infrastructure, Hans Jörgen Johansen explores the possibilities and the challenges of the photographic medium. With his mis-en-scène approach, Hans Jörgen Johansen meticulously and slowly builds up his motifs in his studio. He then photographs them with an enormous clarity. These constructed images, in their built-up reality, asks the photography’s oldest questions; that of the authenticity of the motif. Hans Jörgen Johansen also works with sculpture and painting, with an interest in the discussion of aesthetics and its effects on mainstream society: and the opposite, society’s impact on aesthetics. Repetitive patterns in architecture, infrastructure, and design, is a part of Hans Jörgen Johansen’s palette in creating his take on the modern world.
Hans Jörgen Johansen, born 1961 in Borgholm, currently lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. Hans Jörgen Johansen holds a MFA from the Royal University of Fine Art in Stockholm, 1992.
Hans Jörgen Johansen’s work has been exhibited at Landskrona Konsthall; Liljevalchs, Stockholm; Karlskrona Konsthall; Kristinehamns Konstmuseum; Kalmar Konstmuseum; Saltarvet Fiskebäckskil; and Brändström & Stene.
Hans Jörgen Johansen has received grants from The Swedish Art Committee, The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation and Gerhard Bonnier’s Foundation among others. In the fall of 2012 Hans Jörgen Johansen was awarded the JCDecaux art prize – The Art Break 2013.
Hans Jörgen Johansen’s work is in the permanent collection of the Public Art Agency Sweden; Kalmar Konstmuseum; Kulturenheten Uppsala; Mörbylånga kommun; Stockholm Konst; Stockholms Läns Landsting; and Sveriges Riksdag, among others. Public commissions include work for Stockholm City; the Public Art Agency Sweden; Linköping City, Uppsala City and IRF – Institution for Space technique in Kiruna, Sweden.