Per Johnny Kristiansen (b. 1965)

Is There a Place for Me?, 39"x31", oil on canvas


Per Johnny Kristiansen was born in Norway in 1965. He took part time classes in drawing and painting in his hometown and was enrolled in the T. Ramberg studio in Steinkjer, Norway, from 1999 - 2001. Per Johnny began his studies at The Florence Academy of Art in January 2002. He completed his three-year painting certificate and fourth year of specialization in painting in December 2005. He participated in a juried exhibition in Tromsø, Norway in November 2005, in the Second Annual Alumni Exhibit in Florence in 2006 and in a group exhibit at the W.H. Patterson Gallery in London in 2006. He lives and works in his hometown of Tromsø in Northern Norway, a town that is called the gateway to the arctic in the land of the midnight sun.

“Living in the north, and being a passionate outdoor person, where there are enormous contrasts in nature and light and dark, my passion was born. The last years I have been working with portraits and figure paintings, and I am very grateful to Daniel Graves and The Florence Academy of Art for making it possible for me to do so. In figure paintings I want to describe people of today in a classical realistic way - Contemporary Realism. And what is important to me is the sense of light, atmosphere, emotions and integrity.”