Jonny Forsström

1944-2017

Forsström was born in Stora Möckleby, Öland, Sweden, but he grew up in the mining town Malmbergst, Lappland, Sweden. He got glasses as a six-year-old, and in the 1950s that was a sure sign of weakness that would rule out soccer and wild kids' play. But for the first time, he got to see things clearly and he could be a by-standing voyeur taking note of people's gestures.

He had a variety of jobs after his school years; he was a sailor, a shipyard worker, in the hotel business in Gothenburg and Stockholm, and barely got by. His newly discovery of art gave him hope and a new sense of freedom, a new awakening of the world.

Forsström delivered a swarm of uninhibited, colorful, and fun-loving stories through his colorful art since the mid-1960s. His art is innovative and fantasy based painting motifs in very strong colors. The challenge is to reach beyond technically skillful artistry to obtain a direct and true expression. His art contains family members, friends, moose, exotic animals, strange primitive creatures, morphing characters, ensured trees, and nature in theatrical settings. Strange occurrences, movements, gestures and relationship build energy, drama, and expectations in the pictures that leave them open and enigmatic.

Forsström's inspirations in the late 1960s were Carl-Henning Padersen and Asgar Jom; a brightly hued, billowing and undulating style.

Early 1970s the trend was childishly smeared colorful baseball bats and daring figures in the form of octopuses. Some figures had the ability to fly to escape fences. Gauguin’s interest in the “innocence” of the native Tahitians. Soutine with his distorted physiognomies. De Kooning and his sprawling grimacing bodies. Pollock's convulsed “dripping.” Jonny points to a book of Mario Marini's paintings from the 1960s and suggests “They are just like Baselintz and Lupertz, only twenty years earlier” and “Nolde and Kirchner are really primitive,” which is a high praise of Jonny’s. Roberto Matta's almost electric colors. Forsström once watched Malcolm Morley paint in his New York studio.

Exhibtions:

1990 Parafras Piero della Francesca, Konsthallen Trollhättan, Sweden

2006 Konsthallen Trollhättan, Sweden. Various oil, sketches, aquarelle and sculpture.

Galleries:

Gabrielle Bryers Gallery, New York, USA

Northern Light Ltd. California, USA

Galerie Studio Four, London, ENGLAND

Gallerie Bleu, Paris, FRANCE

Galerie Peuples et Continents, Bryssel, BELGIUM

Art 76, Basel, SWITZERLAND

Galleri Otenti, Antwerp, HOLLAND

Galeri Arnesen, Copenhagen, DENMARK

Art Now Gallery, Gothenburg, SWEDEN