Erik Johansson

• Name — Erik Johansson • Born — 1985 04 • Birthplace — Götene, Sweden • Education — Chalmers University of Technology • Known for — Surrealist Photography • Notable Works — 'The Lightkeeper' (2018), 'Go Your Own Road' (2008), 'Arms break, vases don't' (2008)

Erik Johansson was born in April 1985 outside Götene in the rural middle-south of Sweden. Johansson cites his interest in art as having been influenced by his upbringing, especially his grandmother who was a painter. He said that when his mother asked him how his days were at school, he would rather sketch a comic than tell her with words. Early interest in computers came from Johansson's father who owned one for work in the mid 1980s, where Johansson would "escape to other worlds through computer games." His first digital camera was given to him when he was 15 years old. Johansson said that the camera opened up a whole new world to him, and made him wonder if pressing the trigger could just be the start of the artwork, rather than the final step. In 2005, Johansson moved to Gothenburg to study Computer Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. Here, Johansson began to experiment with retouching and photography, publishing some works online and receiving requests for retouching from local advertisement agencies. He became self-employed when he moved to Norrköping in 2010 doing freelance work for advertisement agencies and began to receive international commission requests. In 2012 he moved permanently to Germany, living in Berlin for several years, then eventually deciding to move to the nearby Czech capital where he is currently based. Presently, Johansson works as a full-time photographer on personal and commissioned works. He also occasionally undertakes projects such as street retouch pranks or anamorphic illusion installations. His creations have been defined by some critics as impossible photography.

Johansson also undertakes a range of commissioned projects. The artist notes that bringing someone else's idea to life is a challenge. Johansson sometimes incorporates stock imagery into commissioned works when the client's budget or timeframes are not flexible enough to allow for him to photograph every element of the agreed work. The client generally casts the models to be featured in the artworks. Johansson prefers the models to look "normal" to provide a juxtaposition to their surreal and sensational surroundings. One of Johansson's regular clients are Adobe who has provided his "paintbrush" of choice for 16 years in Photoshop. Other clients include Volvo, Toyota, Google, Microsoft and National Geographic.

Erik Johansson combines his digitised photographs in the final image. Johansson separates the photographic elements from their familiar environments and recasts them in a shocking yet harmonious composition, concealing the seams between the images and blurring the boundary between imagination and reality. Significant artworks by Erik Johansson include: • The Light Keeper (2018) • Go Your Own Road (2008) • Electric Guitar (2012) • Landfall (2014) • All Above the Sky (2017) • Lifetime (2017) • Self-Supporting (2017) • Loyal Mail (2017) • Arms Break, Vases Don't (2008) Johansson has published two books. Imagine was published in 2016 by Bokförlaget Max Ström and Places Beyond was released in 2019 by the same publisher. The books contain images of Johansson's photographs as well as unpublished works and process material. The artist has also as released two NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), "Go Your Own Road" and "Head in the Clouds".

Critical response to Johansson's work has been positive. Reporter Robert Krulwich wrote that Johansson creates a "meticulous fantasy" which is "part photograph, part construction, part drawing" with "so many layers of foolery in his images, you can't pull the illusion apart, it fits together so perfectly." Alicia Eler, visual arts journalist and critic, wrote in the Star Tribune in 2019 that Johansson creates large scale and highly detailed photographs. When describing his image "Breaking up" (2015), Eler said that the composition and split-house in the work was a "clever device to explore the emotional experience of a domestic space broken apart." She also said that despite Johansson's creative vision for his works, they still have a 'commercial sensibility', especially in works such as "A Leap of Faith".

• Date — Exhibition Title — Gallery/Location • 2023, 21 September - 13 January 2024 — The Echo Chamber — Fotografiska Stockholm — (solo exhibition) • 2023, 11 May – 24 September — Make Believe — Abecita Pop art & Photo, Borås Sweden — (solo exhibition) • 2022, 2 July – 21 August — Head in the Clouds — Magasinet Falun, Falun Sweden — (solo exhibition) • 2022, 18 February – 24 April — Ideas come at Night — Institut suédois, 11 Rue Pavenee, Paris, France — (solo exhibition) • 2021–22 – 16 September 2021 – 30 October 2022 — Beyond Imagination — 63 Building, 60th Floor, Seoul, South Korea — (solo exhibition) • 2022 – September — Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art, St Petersburg Russia — Cancelled. Artists page reads "Glory to Ukraine." • 2021–22, 10 October – 20 March — UnMöglich? — Was Wünsche leisten können, Zürich, Switzerland — (group exhibition) • 2021, 27 March – 7 November — Behind the Horizon — Kalmar Castle, Kalmar, Sweden — (solo exhibition) • 2021, 12 June – 24 October — Places Beyond — Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vasa, Finland — (solo exhibition) • 2021, 9–17 October — Beyond Reality — Home Expo, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg — (group exhibition) • 2021, 1 June – 30 September — The La Gacilly Photo Festival — La Gacilly, Brittany, France — group exhibition) • 2020, 25 September – 14 February 2021 — Places Beyond — Fotografiska Tallinn, Estonia — (solo exhibition) • 2020, 2 January – 29 March — Seongnam Arts Center Museum, Seongnam, South Korea — (solo exhibition) • 2019, 4 December – 14 March, 2020 — Places Beyond — Fotografiska Stockholm, Sweden — (solo exhibition) • 2019, 18 October – 29 December — Hyundai Arts Center, Ulsan, South Korea — (solo exhibition) • 2019, 17 September – 16 November — Place Sainte-Croix, Nantes, France — (solo exhibition) • 2019, 5 June – 15 September — Seoul Art Centre, Seoul, South Korea — (solo exhibition) • 2019, 14 February – 12 May — On the other side of Reality — Lumiere Brothers Centre of Photography, Moscow, Russia — (solo exhibition) • 2019, 26 January – 28 April — IMAGINE — Swedish American Institute, Minneapolis, US — (solo exhibition) • 2018, 3 December – 31 January — Scandinavian Photo — Vasagatan 14, Stockholm, Sweden — (solo exhibition) • 2017–18, 19 September – 11 March — Nature Illusions — Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden — (solo exhibition) • 2017, 22–25 November — Mind Beyond — XPOSURE, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates — (group exhibition) • 2017, 17 June – 8 October — Bending Reality — Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg, Sweden — (solo exhibition) • 2017, 28 July – 5 August — IMAGINE — Summer Film School, Uherské Hradiště, Czech Republic — (group exhibition) • 2016, 4 June – 18 September — IMAGINE — Västergötlands Museum, Skara, Sweden — (solo exhibition) • 2016, 30 April – 8 May — Impossible — Head On Festival, Sydney, Australia — (group exhibition) • 2016, 25 February – 9 April — Imagine: Created Reality — Fotografiska Stockholm, Sweden — (solo exhibition)

Erik Johansson is recorded with the occupation visual artist. Classed in the genre landscape painting. Recorded as a citizen of Sweden.