Jan Widströmer is a Swedish artist, now living in Falkenberg, Sweden. His father was a primary school teacher and a founder of a school for adults of which he was the headmaster; his mother was a piano teacher.
In 1980 Jan's first solo exhibition was presented at the local gallery. It was a success which caused much interest and curiosity; especially as his work was quite different from the other local artists in those days. Since then he has exhibited his art through the years on different locations in Sweden as well as in other countries. Between 1984 and 1993, he was also successful as an art critic, and composed literary and cultural articles for the Hallandsposten - the largest circulated newspaper in the county of Halland by then. By the millennium Jan's art turned more musical as he found a more elaborate style for subtle expressions of music and spirituality. One might also say that his art turned more spiritual.
The movement of the west wind in the grass and the movement of the waves, first carefully studied in a series of pencil drawings, finally gave the basic linear rhythm that is now a main characteristic of my recent paintings. My earlier works often have a sharper edged geometry My art is a voyage always finding new shores. My art is spiritual. My art is hymns of music in color. My art is poetry without words.
In 2009 Jan also returned to the style of his early 80's in a series of paintings; to what he calls his "emblematism", back then mainly drawings in ink. Some of those drawings illustrated his book of poetry, published in 1983, called "Boken till Dig". Now colors, figures as well as back ground forms make his symbolism into an intriguing drama.
Poetry
In 2010 Widströmer started publishing his poems online, thus enabling a much broader audience to take part of his poetry.
Fred Andersson's Biography
In 2019 Fred Andersson, adjunct professor at Åbo Akademi University, publishes an extensive and learned surveil and analysis of Widströmer´s art from the 70´s till today´s latest paintings with its lyrical and geometrical interpretations of inner and outer life and music. Included is an essay on Widströmer´s poetry from the 80´s till today by Niclas Schiöler, adjunct professor at Lund University. Publisher: Palmkron Summary in English.
