S.A: Hi Joseph, first of all, we would like know more about you. Tell us, who is Joseph Jahn, tell us something about your life and your childhood in your country
J.J: Hi, by your question maybe you assume I am from Denmark. No I just live here. I was born and raised in Oakland Calif. Home of the Hells Angels and Black Panthers. I’m of German and Irish Catholic parents, and an only child. I got in so much trouble in public school that I was sent to a Christian Brothers High School  as a boarding student.
That turned me around. I actually liked the change from rebel to student. The Brothers thought I would make a good lawyer because of my joy in arguing with them about theology. And of course they tried to recruit me into a vocation. There was a time when I might have entered the order of Trappists Monks, but that was more a boy’s romantic dream of the life of a mystic. I didn’t commit to the Trappists, but the life of a free mind and mystery has never left me.
I left home at the age of 16 and have lived many lives. Air Force Sergeant, railroad worker, taxi driver, construction engineer, businessman, computer franchise manager, and finally for the past 25 years, Professional Painter in Oils.

S.A: What is art for you?
J.J: Art is the expression of man at his finest. A magic expression of the consciousness of the world. My own art is simply myself on canvas.

S.A: Have you always been interested in arts? When did you discover that art would be an important part of your life?
J.J: I’ve always had the graphic talent of drawing. I can remember doing an icon in pastel for my Grandmother. It was of Christ. I must have been about 12 at the time. However I was more interested in adventure and the world for a long period before I returned to art with any seriousness. I’ve always been interested, but it was not until I had accomplished all my other dreams that I returned to Art as the lasting final to my life’s story.


S.A: How did you get started in the art world?
J.J: I simply stopped being a businessman, sold my home in California and moved to the countryside in Denmark and began to study and paint. I did a complete study of Art and painted for 10 years before I showed my work publicly. I showed my work wherever I could, finally being picked up by a couple of galleries. About 9 years ago my work became totally abstract and has remained so to this day.

S.A: Your artworks on meseon are paintings, Why do you choose painting as a means of expression?
J.J: Because at the start of my work I became fascinated with oil paint and the materials involved with painting in oils. My experimentation has not stopped or become less interesting over the years so I continue to paint in oils. I love the work, the smell, and the possibilities. 

S.A: What concept would you like to show to your viewers?  What would you like say with your artworks?
J.J: I would like to convey the idea that form, color, and texture can form a world and a magic within a painting and within the mind of the observer that is without match in the world. That paintings are living works, that change and mature over time and are always there to give comfort in a world of chaos. They are a bit of true human magic in a wasteland of consumerism. There are many ways to view a painting and it takes some effort and simpatico on the part of the viewer to connect to the artist. Luckily there are a number of humans in the world that have the love of mystery and art enough to connect to good painting and enjoy the voyage of unconscious joy and recognition with the artist.

S.A: How has society influenced your art? What are the social implications of your art?
J.J: All things influence my art, however in a very unconscious way. I do not comment on the passing social scene, or pay too much attention to it in any way. My art has no *message to the masses*, it is personal and detached from this time and place. All I see and hear and experience influences how the paint lays on the canvas.


S.A: Discuss one of your pieces. What were you thinking when you created it?
J.J: Ok, lets take "Figure Study #1".
It started as all my work starts.....in chaos. Then the paint speaks and suggests the road it wants to travel. It’s not until the last working day on a canvas that I bring in order. In this work I wanted to experiment with something figurative and still maintain abstraction. The area of the head is my ode to abstraction and of course the entire painting can be considered abstract, however the figure is there. I was discussing the painting with a friend and said *You know it should be called *Death in a Bath Tube*. He said Oh, your right, that’s it...

S.A: What was your most important exhibition? Could you share that experience?
J.J: My most important exhibition was my first. I was asked by a gallery to do a *one man show*. This was very early in my career. It made me gather my works and also think about how I wanted those works to be presented. This was the most important because it set the tone and direction for almost all future exhibitions. The exhibition went well and I was excited to be accepted as a *Pro*. Since then I’ve had over 50 Exhibitions and have stopped listing them all. But they are all keyed off of that first experience.

S.A: What are the most important artist that are influence in your life and your works? why?
J.J: The most important are those artists that follow the direction of their experiments and are oblivious to the *world of art*. They give me comfort. The problem is that these painters are rarely seen and remain lost. Of those that are known and influence my work the number one is Paul Cézanne and number two is Tàpies.


S.A: Could you talk about the procedures that you use in your artworks? Preparation, development and finishing
J.J: Ok. All my works are based on experiments. I start with an idea either about color or form or an idea about the way to set paint on the canvas. Usually I cover the canvas with a contrasting (to the next layer) layer of paint. I of course have certain boundaries or rules which I usually follow. A portrait canvas pre stretched, High horizon. Either geometric shapes or organic shapes. And I like to end up with one color as the message, one major color statement, warm, cool (red, blue, green, tan). I want to end up with elegance and richness. I start by creating chaos, then I have a conversation with that chaos. This can take a long time before the canvas, paint, and myself can agree and where we are going... Then I bring artistic order to that chaos, balancing the work and trying to maintain the excitement of the original chaos.

S.A: What do you feel when you are finished a artwork?
J.J: Happy... I usually let it hang on the wall of the studio for a few days, to enjoy it and also to make sure it retains it’s excitement. I look for *across the room*, first glance power, and calm interest.

S.A: Do you have some challenge or goal which you are pursuing?
J.J: To paint the best I can at the highest level in every painting. Also to never be satisfied with dull work.

S.A: Some quick questions:
Tell us an artist: Paul Cézanne. He was the best painter of his time and he was always trying to improve.
Tell us a city: Paris. Because the people of Paris know the importance of Art and Culture.
Tell us a dream: Real? or imagined? A real dream would be a studio on Ibiza. Imagined dreams are always out of reach.


S.A: Could you tell us something about you are currently working?
J.J: Currently I am back to round zero. I am sketching with raw umber everyday and whipping it down every afternoon. I am, like the economy, waiting for inspiration. Although I  know that work brings inspiration so I continue to paint, but erase the day’s work every night.  

S.A: Have you got some anecdote that you wish share with meseon community?
J.J: Hum, well it could be the time when I was just a teenager and while wondering a museum turned a corner and was confronted with a small self portrait by Vincent Van Goth. My heart started to pound and my body literally shook. I was then I experienced for the first time the power of paint on canvas.

S.A: For finish tell us, why do you create art?
J.J: Because it is what I know how to do best of all and because I know that death will not wipe my memory from the earth.

S.A: Thanks a lot for your time Joseph. Has been a pleasure know more about you and your work.
J.J: Nice talking to you, and thank you for making art works available on-line.