Australian Art that is About People
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My art is quite simple really. It doesn't try to do anything other than be a reflection of people I see, and meet. Bars can be particularly interesting for subjects because many people are playing the mating game in a place where the lighting can be very theatrical, much like on a stage except that it is real life. I like the way that people behave when they relax and reveal a little of the inner self.

Theatre becomes Real Life
My favourite artists are the ones that mix theatricality with insight. Artists like Lautrec and Schiele, Carravagio and Rembrandt, Kollwitz and Freud. In each case they find profound realities in depicting very ordinary people in extraordinary situations of real life. Australian art has a much smaller tradition of cosmopolitan city based art than Europe, yet here the theatricality of the cosmopolis is that much starker for its contrast with the vastness of the outdoors so close by.

The theatre that is my inspiration is Kings Cross in Sydney, Australia. This is an area where the extraordinary is normal, and the Australian bohemian spirit lives on. Australian artists usually find inspiration in the bush. My art is Australian art, yet the inspiration is the heart of the city. My name is Tony Johansen, although I sign my paintings TonyJohansen.com, a sign of the times. Welcome to my life in art.

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