Johnson Weree

Liberian-born artist Johnson Weree has neither a studio nor home. Like the artist himself, his practice is itinerant. It forms an elaborate daily ritual which occupies him morning to night.

As a child, Weree would salvage waste materials to make his art. Battery fluid became paint, scraps of wood functioned as card or canvas. It has led Weree to cherish every colour, to mix together gels, pastels, felt-tips and ballpoints, to create his vibrant and visionary palette.

Weree’s imaginary subjects/self-portraits stare unapologetically from the paper. Mens' hairlines recede above doggish noses and pencil-thin lips. Women sport bright blush cheeks and multi-tone mascara. Figures appear within figures, as button holes, even as third eyes. Unencumbered by the limitations of the tradition, they function as mirrors, revealing an alternate reality of irrepressible beauty.

Weree’s work can be found in several public and private collections, including Museum Dr. Guislain (Ghent) and The Museum of Everything (London). Works have been exhibited at the Sven-Harrys Konstmuseum (Stockholm, 2012), Kunsthal Rotterdam (Rotterdam, 2016) and MONA (Tasmania, 2017/18). Weree appears in numerous publications including African Artists from 1882 to Now (Phaidon, 2021).