Artist and Psychotherapist Johan Deckmann
Johan
Deckmann
Part humor, part therapy, part mirror. Deckmann paints poetic prescriptions for modern malaise onto vintage book covers. The right words, he says, can be like good medicine.
A friend forwarded me one of his pieces and I had to learn more immediately. Johan Deckmann is a Danish artist and practicing psychotherapist whose imaginary self-help books have quietly changed how people see their own minds.
"The right words can be like good medicine."
Johan Deckmann was born in 1976 in Copenhagen, where he continues to live and work today. He is both a practicing artist and a practicing psychotherapist and the two practices are inseparable. He takes found objects, principally books, and paints witty titles or pensive phrases in English onto vintage covers sourced from secondhand shops. The titles function as poetic prescriptions: satirical commentary on the complexities of life, delivered with the earnest aesthetic of 1960s and 70s self-help guides.
His work has been shown in Copenhagen, New York, London, Tokyo, Rome and São Paulo, and is part of the public art collection Colección SOLO in Madrid. He is represented by Pablo's Birthday Gallery and Guy Hepner Gallery in New York City.
"Every man-made thing on earth is a product of a thought. That's why it makes the most sense to me to work with the human mind both as an artist and as a psychotherapist."
Johan Deckmann
What are your greatest inspirations or influences?
I am not directly inspired by a specific artist. Also, there are not so many text-based artists. I'm very fascinated by Louise Bourgeois her forms, textures and psychological depth. I love Sam Haskins' photographs of women from the 1960s and 1970s and the illustrations of John Alcorn. So it's not really artists who relate to my own work.
The most interesting response to your work you've heard so far?
When my followers kindly write me and tell me how my works have actually changed their perspective on life. Every man-made thing on earth is a product of a thought. That's why it makes the most sense to me to work with the human mind, both as an artist and as a psychotherapist.
Describe your creative process.
My process is simply that I go to the studio and start thinking. It may sound very simple. But my thinking is preceded by a long series of observations of people and of the world around me. And then I write. That's how my works come to be. They are all my personal thoughts that I want to share with my audience. They are all done very intuitively but some works I work on for a long time before they become the way I want them.
What do you think is the most important skill a studio artist should have?
Honesty and courage. Also as a human being.
Anything else you'd like to share with our audience?
I'm not the self-destructive kind of artist. I don't have a need for that. I live healthy, I run and exercise. I like to keep my mind clear. I see life as the most precious gift ever given to anyone, so I intend to extend my journey as far as possible and give as much as I can along the way. Just like we are all the sum of our experiences, my works are clearly a reflection of my view on life.
We have been a part of this change, using social media to expose the works of some of the most inspiring artists in the world and putting you, the reader, in touch with them directly. There is no need for only a few people in a flawed system to dictate what artists can and cannot be exposed to. Today it is more important than ever to preserve the artist's perspective. Because artists are. ✦
Stay curious,
Leila Antakly
