Johan Alberts

"In my recent collection of acrylic and oil paintings – entitled HOMOGENISE – I consciously shine a spotlight on prejudices and promote unity by altering and reworking familiar and famous artworks. My significant twist is the way in which I add an African narrative into the mostly Eurocentric imagery. I feel my current work speaks to a global audience through its sense of nostalgia. People immediately recognise the original artwork and then do a double-take on it. “What the heck is going on here?”. I hope to communicate more universally relevant characteristics with my art. Those things that are present in everyone – however they identify, wherever they call home, whatever life looks like. By splicing apart two seemingly diverse worlds and uniting them on canvas, I pay homage to our gorgeous similarities. And hope to communicate this: don’t we look even more beautiful together than apart? I feel that people are too quick to focus on the differences – the distortion – between one another. Out of a sense of fear, they reach for what is theirs and hold it close, defining anything that doesn’t fit within their tight parameters as different and in turn, a threat. After all, the existence of differences within society is driven and empowered by cultural and artistic narratives. As an artist, I have the power (and responsibility) to inform these narratives, alter them as I see fit, and do it through beauty and colour. I do this by taking what is known and accepted and overturning it by introducing cultural narratives that have been overlooked for far too long. How do our similarities AND differences – ethnically, culturally, religiously, etc – enhance and empower our lives? Through my art, I use emancipation, strength, immortality, beauty, and the acceptance of pain as a natural part of life as my guides. All with the intention and ultimate goal of inclusion. For as long as I can remember, the main aim of my art is to offer a visually pleasing respite from the dull doldrums of the everyday. I want to add beauty to the world, and offer people an opportunity to dwell within a colourful, hopeful space as they consume my art. From a more societal and political perspective, I set out to communicate how our differences – be they ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, etc – are also gateways to our similarities. My art is an invitation towards inclusion. " - Johan Alberts