Johanne 8

INFO

JOHANNE 8

BIOGRAPHY

Johanne 8 ; A name that resonates like a lucky charm when one knows the symbolic meaning of the number attached to the first name of this young artist from Lyons. After a career in aeronautics, she decided to return to her passion for everyday life.

Artist inspired by Liberty, Johanne 8 speaks about society, violence, sexuality, the suffering of people, their little happiness, their smallness in a style inspired by comics, mangas, graff and Pop-Art.

In his paintings, there are many references to the memories of his childhood, to the characters who accompanied him like the superheroes, the American pulps and comics of the 50s, Hello Kitty, Walt Disney but also many winks to US, logos, pubs and all its inspirations from the street …

Johanne 8 was born in Lyon in 1974. She lives and works today in Paris.

It is the curiosity of the world and cultures that takes JOHHANNE 8 on the paths of art. Everywhere she paints, writes and sticks from her earliest age. These many journeys she makes will impregnate in her mind the strong images that are found today in these paintings.

It is especially during a passage in New York that JOHANNE 8 discovers Basquiat. It is an emotional and artistic shock for her, which will now plunge into North American urban culture.

This is how the artist defines himself today as an heiress of Bad Painting, a movement of American graffiti artists. She joined the young artistic movement of “Street Pop” which she shared with other artists like Benjamin Spark, young and talented Belgian artist.

When Johanne 8 returns to settle in Paris, it is to dedicate herself fully to her first love: she writes scenarios for cinema and television. At the same time, she took over the brushes and exhibited paintings where the diversity of the techniques used goes hand in hand with the plurality and the proliferation of visual codes.

Johanne 8 conjugates images, mingled with words, in order to transcribe its inner bubbling and the variety of its artistic and cultural references. It allows the viewer to wonder about his own cultural mosaic, about what constitutes today our mixed identities.

Discovered by a first Parisian gallery in the Marais district, the artist now exhibits his paintings in France and abroad.

The ready-to-wear brand Paul & Joe even asked her to design a basketball model for their Men’s Autumn / Winter 2009/2010 collection ….