JOHAN BARRIOS
Johan Barrios (b.1984) is a Colombian-born artist living and working in Houston, Texas.
His career started at the Academy of Fine Arts in Medellin, Colombia and his success later on led him to the United States, where he is based today.

As a general character, Barrios has a unique ability to express powerful human emotions in a brushstroke, a color palette and a composition, with a fineness and sensitivity that can be difficult to describe. A tenderness that hits so strongly it can be hard to stay on your feet in meeting them.
Besides the incredible technique in his work and his unique ability to make us feel when studying his mysterious absorbing paintings and drawings, he has been touted as one of the most significant young visual artists of today.

Johan Barrios considers himself to be a figurative painter but not a portraitist. Despite being painted in the realism genre, the composition, palette and obscured visages evoke an enigmatic surrealism. Often combining the human figure with another or with an object such as a chair, pillow or wall, the environments lack details and specifics. Instead the artist uses light and shadow, enshrouding the location in a mystery. Playing with a desaturated palette, the atmospheric quality is almost fog-like, further adding to the mysterious quality of his works.

"I think that during the process, each of these pieces presents a sculptural sensation in which the bodies are used as inanimate objects coupled unconsciously by their own weight. There is always a visible interaction manifesting between the subjects, objects in their presence and the space they have found themselves in. The conversation that takes place becomes intriguing and surreal."
- Johan Barrios

About his drawing the artist tells the following:
"For me drawing is related to a type of visual silence that lacks any type of noise and exterior distraction. Perhaps, it is due to its nature, its fragility or its monochrome language or just the simplicity with which the drawing builds complex ideas.
I wanted to build a silent space where the images in this exhibition are submerged in their own territory, as if the characters were holding their breath for a moment and freezing in an ephemeral
moment in time.
Many of these images are presented as constant encounters and searches of a narrative of my unconsciousness."

Art Maze Magazine | Studio visit with Johan Barrios >>

Hi-fructose Magazine | The mysterious absorbing drawings and paintings of Johan Barrios >>

Juxtapoz Magazine >>

EDUCATION

La Universidad de Antioquia in Medellin, Columbia



SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022
Encounters, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg Denmark
Volta Art Fair, KIRK Gallery, Schweiz

2021
Silence (Drawing show), KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark

2020
Lightness, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark

2019
"Inertia" KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark

2017
"Adormecido". Anya Tish Gallery. Houston, TX

2016
"Intervalo" Art League of Houston. Houston, TX
The Happening of an idea, Barcelona, Victor Lope

2015
"Ejercicios de Ruptura". Victor Lope Arte Contemporaneo. Barcelona.
“Método”. Galería Duque Arango. Medellín Colombia.

2012
"Este espacio está reservado solo para usted". Cámara de Comercio. Medellín- Colombia

2008
“Múltiplo común”. Galeríe b-146. Zúrich-Suiza.



SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024
MIX 2024, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark

2023
Christmas Show, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark
At the Edge of Realism, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark
Art Herning, KIRK Gallery, Denmark

2022
MIX, KIRK Gallery, Aalborg, Denmark

2021
At the Edge of Realism, KIRK Gallery, Denmark
Art Herning, KIRK Gallery, Denmark

2019
Art Herning, KIRK Gallery, Denmark
Group show Realisms, Barcelona, Victor Lope
Art Karlsruhe, Tyskland, Victor Lope

2018
North Art Fair , Aalborg, Denmark, KIRK Gallery
212 Fifth ave atelier collection, Axiom fine art, NY,USA
44 Artists from Texas. LHUCA. Lubbok, TX
Art Karlsruhe, Germany, Victor Lope
Swab Barcelona, Spain, Victor Lope

2017
Duets 2.0. Fort Works Art. Fort Worth, TX
Scope Art Basel. Victor Lope Contemporáneo.
The Moleskine Project. Spoke Art. SF, CA.
London Art Fair. Victor Lope Arte Contemporáneo.

2016
Contemporary Istanbul. Victor Lope Arte Contemporáneo.
Art Fair Houston. Arcadia Contemporary.
Crossroads, The London Art Show. Victor Lope Contemporáneo.
"Drawn To Greatness". Arcadia Contemporary. L.A.
"Radical Home". Salt Fine Art. Laguna Beach, CA.

2015
"Second Sight". Booth Gallery. NY
"MUTE". Galerie C.O.A, Montreal Canada.
"Versión Original". Víctor Lope Arte Contemporáneo. Barcelona.
Art Copenhagen. Víctor Lope Arte Contemporáneo.

2014
SWAB Art Fair. Barcelona España. Galería Víctor Lope Art Contemporáneo.
Art Fair Cologne. AlemaniaGalería Víctor Lope Arte Contemporáneo.
Casa Arte Madrid. Madrid España. Galería Víctor Lope Art Contemporáneo.

2013
Exposición Colectiva. Barcelona España. Galería Víctor Lope Art Contemporáneo.

2012
Esta sala es un–John Cage. Sala U Arte Contemporáneo. Universidad Nacional. Medellín. Colombia.

2010
42 Salón Nacional de Artistas. Independientemente. Curaduría
Inversiones. Barranquilla. Colombia.