Per Johansson was born in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1996. He is a practising architect at Krook & Tjäder as well as a figurative oil painter

Picta. Urbs. is the name of my art practice, born from the convergence of two enduring passions: architecture and painting. The Latin phrase—“painted city”—reflects my belief that urban landscapes are layered with memory, emotion, and history. It also echoes the motto of Padua, Urbs Picta, home to Giotto’s frescoes and the birthplace of Andrea Palladio—both key inspirations in my work.

Color and light are central to my practice. Inspired by the Göteborgskoloristerna (Gothenburg Colourists), I approach color not as a descriptive tool, but as an emotional force—where hue and luminosity become carriers of mood and meaning.

At its core, my practice holds space for ambiguity. I’m drawn to the quiet dissonance of the everyday—the strange within the familiar, the collapse of context, the beauty that lingers in between. I paint to dwell in these threshold moments: between sleep and waking, presence and memory, clarity and uncertainty. In doing so, I hope to invite reflection, intimacy, and slowness in a time that rarely allows for pause.