The journey
The path of an artist is a great journey of discovery. A quest for who you are as a creator, what you want to create, with what materials. Disappointments, frustrations, lack of inspiration, it all comes by.

Johan began his 'bumpy' journey experimenting with analog photography. From cheap to high-quality baryta paper, canvas, acrylic, metal, glass, epoxy, polystyrene, and dibond, back to baryta paper.

Much of his work "Nude, not naked" was about struggle.
Fighting to be allowed to be yourself, struggle against exclusion, also has autobiographical characteristics.
In his youth, Johan was not encouraged in the field of art. The drawing teacher at the high school in Zwolle saw him struggling and encouraged him. He developed a love for (almost) surreal landscapes and a talent for photography and abstract work, consisting of color and form, during his teenage years.

The need to show distinctive work made his adolescence not easy. Desperate, because he did not understand his own talent, he turned away from art and destroyed everything he had made until then.

What remained was (analog) photography. In his darkroom, he focused on black and white. The rise of digital photography opened new doors; he began experimenting again with colors, shapes, and abstract creations and eventually developed into a Digital Artist.

Works without a title.

In his theme (since 2018) 'Nude, not naked' the female body is the canvas for new digital creations. It is not about sensuality for him, but about expression, emotion, shapes, and colors. From black and white to digitally assembled. The viewer may find their own story in it, without being distracted by a title (nothing from this series is included).

In mid-2023, Johan started again with abstract work. In his current abstract/naive work, he draws inspiration from the daring of the eccentric Dalí, the creative drive of Munch, and the working methods with colors and shapes of Hundertwasser and Mondrian.
Abstract, where it all began in high school.
Working with the three primary colors supplemented with white and black. Shapes and lines are the foundation, but there is also room for figurative (naive) work. The silhouettes come from his archive, works with dancers and nudes.
The lines represent the lifeline of everyone, almost never straight, almost always bent and winding. The planes represent events that happen to you, the silhouettes embody the strength to stay upright.

Exhibitions, galleries.

Affordable Art Amsterdam, Brussels, Art Basel, London, Frankfurt, and many Hilton hotels in Europe and one in Beijing, a small museum in Italy, Museum Huizen NL, Atelierroute Huizen, Galleries in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Albania.

At the beginning of 2023, Johan ended collaborations with all galleries. Sales were disappointing, while (some) galleries continued to raise their costs.
And, he believes that a gallery should act more as a "market maker" than just as an intermediary.

A promising collaboration with an American gallery chain required too large an investment for him and therefore did not go through.

Whether he will look for new galleries, he does not know yet. There remains interest from Spain, Germany, China.



N.B.
The site jovadre.nl is currently being rebuilt.

You can find work and preliminary studies at:
https://instagram.com/johanvandreven

New work will be posted there in the coming time, and also at:
https://www.facebook.com/jovadre