Today we speak to visual artist Johannes Holt Iversen who is currently working from his main studio in an industrial area of the small city called Herfølge outside Copenhagen.

My own encounter with the pandemic was up close in Amsterdam, the Netherlands when the crisis hit its peak and had the most intense summer graduating from art academy alongside an artist residency in beautiful Italy (ground zero of the outbreak in Europe) and afterwards building up my 2nd studio facilities in Denmark while every introductory exhibition I had planned got cancelled or postponed. I think these COVID-years are here to build us stronger and more creative somehow.

Your greatest inspirations or influences?

Greatest influence has to be Pablo Picasso, not as a man, but as an artist. His legacy speaks volumes and his artistic process had so many layers that you as an artist, never seems to grow tired of. If I dig deeper into what influences my own creative process the amazing upper Paleolithic cave paintings such as the ones found in Lascaux, Maltravioso and the Chauvet Cave. What amazes me is the idea that there were no systemized cultural entity determining the cultural value of these paintings back then, like we tend to do now. They presumably had their own systems back then; some say they used the cave paintings for navigating the stars in the sky, others suggest they were used for storytelling or determining the seasons of the year due to the absence or presence of specific wildlife and animals.

Tell us a bit about your creative process? things you are looking forward to this year?

I tend to work from the material and out first, having in mind the lineage of artistic creation and representation. Currently I am investigating the representation of light, shadow and matter; this often results in an object-based work, whereas not the figure itself only is important, but also the space and the viewer surrounding the figure has an important role to perform when engaging with the works. In my practice I have been drawn towards illuminating natural and cultural occurrences such as paintings, banners, marketed products and the use of shapes and symbols.

This year I am looking forward to build my solo exhibition with my main gallery Annika Nuttall in Denmark, after these extreme pandemic years, there is a lot to talk about visually I think. And I cannot wait to shape this exhibition. I am also very excited for my upcoming collaboration with Galerie 208 in Paris, France.

How has this year changed your creativity or how do you see the world changing moving forward?

This year has been life altering on so many levels. But I think when it comes to creativity, this year has been an important one to learn from as an artist; to keep all creative channels open, let work flow as freely as possible but at the same time having the outside pressure of economy, unforeseen obstacles and daily life to happen. All together forming your daily artistic routines and then balance it not to form any artistic blockage or clutter.

With all that has happened this year I think there will be a great dealing with the COVID-19 crisis visually in the art world. I have a feeling that the years to come will have a massive aftermath; we will either see a great deal of dividing and segregation in societies, divided into the ones who are vaccinated and the ones who are not. Or we will see a change where we all take responsibility and move closer together taking a stance towards modern individualism as we have known it since the 2000s.

Who do you consider to be an icon of our time?

An interesting question for an artist! Today there are forces within the art community who deliberately works towards cancelling the icon status of the creative individual without filling the gap with something else. I think due to this cancel-culture that has developed within the art world, film, media branch and also the literary world; that icon status may shift its focus from what we see as the traditional icons (creativity, ideology, politically) towards technological icons. I have seen a lot of focus on technological icon worship especially happened in the 2010's now 2020's: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg etc. The art world is taking a wrong turn inviting in cancel-culture into the ring. We will see a downsizing of culture budgets and a lack of focus on art, rather more a prolonged focus on identity due to this icon cancellation ideology. Just as what happened in politics in the 2000s and 2010's. By deliberately mixing identity into art it will create division and negative consequences in the long run. It will become a discussion about who has the right to discriminate others, rather than a healthy discussion of same existence and basic existential human needs in this pre-age of colonizing new planets.

Do you think the art world needs to change, and if so how can it be improved.

Definitely the art world needs to change, question is what type of change is necessary?

It is important to think human nature as a glass filled with water, whatever you put additionally into that cup, makes the excessive water float elsewhere; pressure breeds back pressure, in all aspects of human nature. In order to change systems, there needs to be a pragmatic gesture taking place first otherwise you spawn fundamentalism within any given structure.

Web: www.holt-iversen.com

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jholtiversen