The phenomenal fish

Bengt O Björklund The artist, poet and percussionist Bengt O Björklund was born in Stockholm in 1949. In 1968, he ended up in jail in Istanbul with a group of international artists, poets and musicians. That's when he first started painting. The source of inspiration was his Japanese friend, the artist Koji Morrishita, and the Italian artist, poet and Dadaist Antonio Rasile. He is called Erich in the cult movie Midnight Express. When Bengt returned to Sweden in 1973, he decided to become an artist and start painting seriously. After a short trip through Europe, he moved into a concierge's apartment on S:t Paulsgatan at Mariatorget in Stockholm. There he painted intensively for about 8 months, always at night. The shifts were long. Twelve hours of work in one night was not uncommon. He sat by the window and painted and someone would often knock on the window. Sometimes someone would come in and buy a painting. Light was important and it was the emerging light in the pictures he created that kept him spellbound at the easel. In 1975 Bengt O Björklund was in Copenhagen and met the American folk singer and gallerist Joe Banks. Joe Banks invited him to exhibit, which he did. It was his first public exhibition. In 1996, the same year he met his current wife Gertrude, he met the American artist Harvey Cropper. It was a new beginning and at the same time a development of what he had once begun in the mid-70s. Harvey was his mentor for many years until he passed away in 2012. Through the years Bengt has had many exhibitions. His art has been on the cover of magazines. Solo exhibitions Joe Banks Gallery 1975 Gallery Friends of Art 1998 Hammarby Church 1999 Gallery Z:e 2005 Skarpnäcks Borough in Björkhagen 2007 Gallery Kyrkskolan 2018 Collective exhibitions Social services in Stockholm 1997 Creative kilometer Stockholm 1998 Spring exhibition in Bagarmossen Stockholm 2007 Gallery Art Stockholm 2007 Gallery Kyrkskolan Västerhaninge 2019 and 2022 Haninge Hall of Art Västerhaninge 2022 Nehru Centre exhibition hall London 2025 Represented Skarpnäck Borough in Björkhagen 2005 Huddinge hospital Stockholm 2005

Winds of Change (2025), Golden Duck Gallery, Budapest

Oil on canvas / Olaj, vászon

100 x 100 cm

Sverige