Johnson Weree

As a child growing up in war-torn Liberia, Johnson Weree would salvage what discarded materials he could to illustrate his portraits. Today, in the relative comfort of The Netherlands, a contemporary palette of unlimited dazzle has replaced the battery fluid and blood.

Weree has neither studio nor home, no sitters nor patrons. Like the artist himself, his practice is itinerant. A safeguard against the outside world, it is an elaborate daily ritual, which occupies its author morning to night,

The central marks of Weree’s oeuvre are oeuvre are the mesmerising features of an imaginary people. They stare unapologetically from the card. Men’s hairlines recede above doggish noses and pencil-thin lips. Women
sport bright blush cheeks and multitone mascara. Figures appear within figures, as button-holes, cloud forms or even third eyes

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).