Johan van den Boom, Biography
Autodidact to the bones, Johan van den Boom grew up with art all around him. His mother, well-known Irish sculptress Carol Cairns, and his Dutch father a landscape architect, breathed so much art, that now it comes out of his pores…

He was born in Dùn Laoghaire, Ireland, on 5th May 1967, and moved to the Netherlands 4 years later, where he lived in Gouda. Since 2007 he lived in Toscany, Italy and in Uddeholm, Sweden and in West-Cork, Ireland. Now, since August 2009, he lives in Oslo, Norway.

His most important study is not within the field of art, but in therapy. Johan van den Boom is a contextual dramatherapist, and has had his own practice until September 2003. Since then he's a fulltime artist. Creating beauty, especially rough, natural beauty is a very important goal for him. He is more inspired by philosophy and psychology than by art-history. Also Jewish and Old-Christian Mysticism, in providing an atmosphere, which might be called religious, have been an inspiration to him. This is an organic kind of spirituality. Religion and spirituality have generated the most beautiful art. Johan van den Boom steps into the stream of this tradition.

Johan van den Boom first wanted to have an artistic signature. Now he is ready and this has resulted in successful exhibitions. He works with different techniques: acrylic paint (mostly on panels), pen and ink and polyester objects. He has had exhibitions in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Ireland and Norway. He initiated the Month of Photography in Gouda and the Midsommerartfestival in Uddeholm and the project Art4trees. He is boardmember of Emanuel Vigeland Venner