Jan Håfström
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'Walker's Escape'
Signed Jan Håfström and dated 2021. Panel 100 x 100 cm.
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Jan Håfström has often broken away from conventions and boundaries. He writes art criticism, makes films, stage design, paints and sculpts.
In 2001, he surprised the Swedish art public with the exhibition "Walker", which hit Färgfabriken in Stockholm like a bomb. Out of the abstract, silent, minimalist world emerges Mr. Walker and his fictional, eventful world. Elements of childhood adventures and images of the disguised Mr. Walker, aka the Phantom, are present in the paintings. This time in the form of cut-out, enlarged details. Like backdrops that for once play the main role, the stories and adventures return in fragments to form a new story, of what was and what became.
But Walker also moves in the same world as A. Böcklin's "Island of Death" from the 1880s and Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" from 1902. In the darkness of romance, death is fought and the creative force of life is allowed to win and triumph. In the story of Mr. Walker, Håfström combines the abstract canvases and the moods of the objects with the stories that have been crucial and strongly influenced his life. The journey of childhood comes back in a stripped-down and renewed form.
Artist
Ever since the 60s, Jan Håfström has been an important and clearly shining star in Swedish art and culture. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and painted "The Forest", 1968 and later "Grandmother", 1972, both of which have become classics and can be seen in the Moderna Museet's collection.
In 2001, he surprised the Swedish art public with the exhibition "Walker", at Färgfabriken in Stockholm. Out of the abstract, quiet, minimalist comes Mr. Walker and his fictitious, eventful world. Elements of childhood adventures and images depicting the disguised Mr. Walker aka the Phantom are in the paintings. This time in the form of cut-out, enlarged details. Like scenery that for once has the main role, the stories and adventures return in fragments and form a new story, about how it was and how it came to be. But Walker also moves in the same world as A. Böcklin's "Island of Death" 1880s and Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" from 1902. In the darkness of romance, death is fought and the creative power of life is allowed to win and triumph. In the story about Walker, Håfström combines the abstract canvases and the moods of the objects with the stories that were decisive and strongly influenced his life. The journey of childhood comes back in stripped down and renewed form.
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