"I want my works to be like mirrors. When you look at them you might not like what you see, but like in a mirror, you now get the awareness and the chance to change something."
Johan Deckmann is a Copenhagen-based artist, practicing psychotherapist and author, whose works examine the complications of life through one-liners painted on the covers of fictional “self-help” books. These book titles, though often filled with scathing satire and humour, tackle life’s biggest questions, fears, and absurdities. Recognizing the power of language in both therapy and art, Deckmann successfully forms simple phrases that compress information, feelings or fantasies into an essence, and a truth that has an effect that is very similar to therapy. “The right words can be like good medicine,” Deckmann shares. While most of his book titles skirt between hilarious and poignant, underscored by their faded color and worn texture of 1970s era self-help guides, the readers are taken through a journey of self-reflection and soul-searching as they scroll through the entirety of Deckmann’s work. The artist explains that his psychological practice has great influence on his art, not only by serving as a tremendous inspiration for the content of his works, but also as a constant reminder of personal responsibility. “I meet many people who suffer from a circumstance that they themselves have created but they choose not to take action,” he explains. “I think it’s tragicomic that underneath our frustration and self-slavery lies this beautiful opportunity.”
