Joakim Flagga, is a Swedish artist, best known for his colorful, larger-than-life portraits and dynamic, vivid and colorful figurativ paintings. He utilises colour and composition in his paintings to evoke a bold presence in the spaces they inhabit.
Flagga, a native of Sundsvall, Sweden began his career in advertising and graphic design. He discovered his love for creating art as a contrast to the design work he did for clients. Inspired by the people and life around him, Flagga’s stories take shape in colourful figurative portraits. Large paintings, whose bold simplicity and vivid colours make them stand out. The purpose of the paintings is to arouse curiosity and give energy to their surroundings.
Flagga views his paintings as interior installations. A dialogue between various shapes, colour and composition, his process produces big abstract paintings or larger-than-life portraits with strong vivid colours. In Flagga’s abstract paintings he employs a great deal of thought arranging the shapes he uses, inspiring dramatic compositions and gestures in his finished products. His use of colours and patterns, his play with shifting shapes and surfaces, and his intense line quality are a contemporary counterpart to the post-modern masters working in minimalism and abstract expressionism in the mid-twentieth century. Flagga’s use of simplified geometric forms, un-modulated colour and hard-edges common in minimalism, is paired with the spontaneous inclusion of things from his more figurative paintings.
“As far back as I can remember, I have always been sketching and doodling these random and odd figures. But it is now in recent years, they have started taking center stage in my paintings. Sometimes they are me in the form of a feeling or state of mind that I can recognise myself in. Sometimes it is a distant story from a friend that turns into a character.“
Exhibitions
2023. "Fem i Ett" - Group Exhibition - Härnösand Konsthall - Härnösand, Sweden.
2022. "Art Show" - Group Exhibition - Galleri Zeitgeist - Uppsala, Sweden.
2022. "On show" - Solo - Made in Medelpad - Sundsvall, Sweden.
2022. "Summer Show" - Galleri Hamnmagasinet - Mellanfjärden, Sweden.
2021. "NFT" - MADS gallery - Milano, Italy.
2021. "Art Show" - Group Exhibition - Galleri Zeitgeist - Uppsala, Sweden.
2020. "Early days" - Solo - Hoome Showroom - Sundsvall, Sweden.