A contemporary English painter in Sweden
“Whether it’s landscape, seascape or still life, my paintings share a joy of freely exploring colour and composition.”
Tokyo 2024
A report from John’s adventure in Tokyo coming soon…
‘Letting go’, 120 x 160 cm
About John
Born in Lowestoft, Suffolk, John grew up on England’s east coast. He studied Architecture in Brighton and worked for many years with exhibition design, interiorsand illustration. After moving to Sweden with his young family, John began painting and exhibiting more actively. More recently he’s expanded his gallery representation beyond Sweden to throughout the U.K and to the U.S.A.
In his paintings, he explores landscape and seascape through its patterns and textures, attempting to trigger a memory or a sense of place and ignoring conventional rules of perspective along the way. In his still-life studies, John tries to tease something extraordinary out of his everyday surroundings. Inspiration for John lies all around, from an un-cleared breakfast table to an upturned boat on ashingle beach or the childhood memory of a family walk.
John paints with acrylics which he lays on with vigour. After creating an initial abstract composition of shapes and splashes, some semblance of reality normally finds its way in; a mug, a vase, a boat, a jetty… More often than not, he works on hard panels such as plywood or mdf which enable him to scratch and distress the surface. In addition to paint, he uses whatever may be to hand; charcoal, crayons, correcting fluid, oil pastel, wallpaper paste, working layer upon layer until (eventually) something emerges and tells him to stop.
Forthcoming Exhibitions
2025 Padstow Gallery, Cornwall, England (to be confirmed) 2024 Ekströms konst, Västerås, Sweden, 12th - 26th October (together with Catharina Bauer)
Selected Exhibitions.
2024 Aldeburgh Gallery, Suffolk, England - August 8th - 21st 2024 Roddarhuset, Vaxholm, Sweden - Samlingsutställning June 29th - August 15th 2024 Prince & Pilgrim gallery, Richmond, London - Summer exhibition 2024 Galleri Fiskhuset, Nyköping, Sweden - ‘Fem på Fiskhuset’, April 13th - 28th 2024 Galerie Ca Bon, Tokyo, Japan - February 17th - April 8th 2023 Sollentuna Konstronda - Open Studio Weekend 23rd -24th September 2022 Padstow Gallery, Cornwall - One-man show, ‘Coast to Coast’ 2022 Magpie Contemporary Art, Farnham, Surrey 2021 Sollentuna Konstronda - Open Studio Weekend 2020 Karby Gård, Täby, Sweden
2020 'Coastal Paths'. Whitespace Art, Totnes
2020 Galleri Fiskhuset, Nyköping, Sweden
2019 One-man show at Roddarhuset, Vaxholm
2019 Lime Tree Gallery, Long Melford, Suffolk, England
2018 Affordable Art Fair, Singapore (with Lime Tree Gallery)
2018 Affordable Art Fair, Stockholm, October (with Roddarhuset)
2018 Sollentuna Konstronda (2004-2019) Open studio
2017 Affordable Art Fair, Stockholm 12-15th October (with Roddarhuset)
2017 Affordable Art Fair, Bristol 8-10th September(with Lime Tree Gallery)
2017 Roddarhuset, Vaxholm - Group Show, 8thJuly-10thAug
2017 Lime Tree Gallery, Suffolk - 'Places I Know', 28Jan-28Feb
2017 Lime Tree Gallery, Bristol - 'A Sense of Space', 21Jan-21Feb
2016 Roddarhuset, Vaxholm - Group Show
2015 Ashdown Gallery, Forest Row, England
2015 Roddarhuset, Vaxholm
2014 Ashdown Gallery, Forest Row, England
2013 Stockholmskonstsalong, Hagaparken (Stipendium!)
2012 Galleri Ekvall+Törnblom, Stockholm
2012 Roddarhuset, Vaxholm
2011 Edsvik Konsthall, Höstsalong
2011 Galleri Aniara, Sollentuna Bibliotek
2011 Vaxholms skulpturpark, Roddarhuset
2011 Överby Gård Konstcentrum, Sollentuna
2009 Roddarhuset, Vaxholm
2008 Edsvik Konsthall, Höstsalong
2008 Stockholmskonstsalong, Hagaparken (Stipendium)
2008 Galleri Glöd, Malmö
2006 "30 x 30", Väsby konsthall
2006 Galleri Lucy Ford, Stockholm
2006 "30 x 30", Väsby konsthall
2006 Överby Gård, Sollentuna
2005 Galleri Mäster Olof, Stockholm
2004 "30 x 30", Väsby konsthall
2004 Akvarellsalong, Väsby konsthall
2000 Brighton Festival