Social Life
In the era of a notorious twitter presidency, Wahlstrom’s work also offers a strong political dimension. Having lived the historic last two years in New York, Johan Wahlstrom has manifestly absorbed America’s current critical moment. He has already achieved recognition among collectors and art critics alike with his Existential and Distorted Happiness series. His distorted faces among Pollock-like compositions depicting today’s political landscape with irony
In his recent ironic series Social Life, Swedish artist Johan Wahlstrom portrays today’s society like a neurophysiologist. His dark paintings convey what we all thought we waned: our own celebrity. “You can turn into a celebrity with no reason or effort, wanted or unwanted”—claims Johan Wahlstrom—“and have an instant social life. Like instant coffee! Even Marx would admit it’s the biggest revolution ever in mankind! Now the question is: what kind of social life has brought this democratization of celebrity that works like Big Brother where people don’t communicate with each other any more?”
