JOHAN POTMA
Dutch creative Johan Potma is a painter and illustrator living in Berlin. He says: “I have a strong love for the weird, the odd, the non-fitting and out of place. I tell stories about me and you, played out by monsters, robots and all sorts of goofballs. I find the pretty in strange places.”
Image: Johan Potma, courtesy of Marga van den Madenberg Photography.
At the moment I am working on...
Some character designs for a Children’s Dance Festival.
The best piece of creative work around at the moment is.
I definitely like the Low Brow art scene. I can’t come up with just one best creative piece. The stuff I like changes daily, but there is definitely a ton of talent out there. I really like the work of Marco Wagner, Danny Gretscher, Louis Travis, Ed Templeton, Joe Sorren just to name a few.
The works I tend to like are usually very heavily character-based pieces. As a child I was always fascinated by monsters and characters. Maybe it has something to do with Sesame Street. It is a love that to this day still is very strong.
I am inspired by...
Decay, old boxes, badly unkempt moustaches, weirdly fitting skirts, overweight birds, insects, third place winners, bad design, mistakes, nature, biology, science, music, films, life’s struggles, love, comics and art.
This year I’ll be attending...
I will be exhibiting at the Stroke Artfair in Berlin this year. Further more you can see my artwork in one of my galleries in Berlin all year through. You can come and visit me at my gallery and studio, “the Cheese Mountain Tragedy” or see many of my paintings in either Onkel Zozo or Zozoville Gallery, which I run together with my buddy and crazy talented artist Mateo Dineen.
What got my attention at the last festival I exhibited at is...
How much I love it to connect to my audience - to talk to the people and share my artwork with them. It still makes me profoundly happy to observe people looking at my work and see them smile about whatever it is they discovered in there. It makes me realise that’s one of the main reasons why I do what I do.
Video: Timelapse of Johan creating "Mr Knowitall" for Kaiserbrand, Berlin.
The next big thing in advertising is going to be...
Nobody knows. But it would be great if the next big thing is something small.
In a film about my life, I’d like to be played by...
The first ten years of my life should be played by Beaker from the Muppets, then there should be a scene of me on a donkey riding into the future played by Chris Elliot. My adult life played by Louis CK or Zach Galifianakis. If they don’t want to do it, and science can make it work, I think Richard Prior should be dug up!
In my industry, I admire...
Clever solutions, honesty and hand-made stuff. I like it when creatives don’t take themselves too seriously. To me it is beautiful when in a creative process mistakes are allowed to happen and this becomes part of the outcome. It is okay if the work shows it has been made by humans, not robots. Flaws and elements that are just off make things more human to me and more likeable.
My dream collaboration is...
I would love to work on a children’s book or do character design for animation. A beautiful computer game is also something I would like to work on. In the end I guess it is process of creating something to me that counts whatever is and with whom. Right now I enjoy working in my studio on my own paintings.
In up and coming talent, I look for...
I don’t know exactly what it is I am looking for. I like to be surprised creatively, so maybe it is originality of thought and expression, although that can mean a lot of things. The work needs to spark something in me, whether positive or negative - it doesn’t really matter. The spark of a new direction in perspective or thought in me is something I really appreciate.
A piece of criticism I’ve received is...
That I am stubborn.
Johan’s work for clients including Kaiserbrand Animation, Pepsi and Playboy Magazine has appeared in Lürzer’s Archive and his name is no stranger to our 200 Best Illustrators Specials. You can view his work here.
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Banner image: www.johanpotma.com
