In “House of Lies”, Johan Wahlström depicts a world full of deception, ignorance and chaos.
With simple bold brushstrokes of black, gray and red paint Wahlstrom renders politically evocative scenes - lynch mobs, religious extremists and a little girl hugging a bomb. One painting features crowds of skeletons stacked behind Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and in another, an enraged Donald Trump waves a gun towards his own head. In the monochromatic painting, “Let Us Take You Down, Part 2” streaks of black tears connect distorted faces; step back a few paces and the tears resemble prison bars.
This type of metaphorical juxtaposition characterizes Wahlström’s work, “I see myself as a storyteller reflecting on the human condition, says Wahlström. “I want to challenge the viewer to consider the silent inner anguish we suffer as a result of letting the greed run rampant in our world.”
Many of Wahlström’s compositions lack a central figure, reminding us that our blindness to greed and lies strips us of our individuality, leaving us shallow replicas of the same suffering we deny.
Johan Wahlström, Born 1959, Stockholm, Sweden lives and works in Malaga, Spain.