Who is Gustaf Tidholm?
The upbringing and inspiration of the artist
Gustaf Tidholm was born in 1981 in Huddinge, Stockolm. His father, Erik, was a politician and local councilor, and his mother was at home with Gustaf and six other siblings. He lived in Stockholm for the first ten years and then moved to Alfta in Hälsingland.
Gustaf grew up in an environment that valued artistic expression. The creativity and interest in drawing that Gustaf developed at an early age were encouraged, and there were many sources of inspiration, not least in Gustaf's family.
Gustaf's mother, Elinor, painted in oils and watercolors, and his grandfather's cousin was the famous illustrator and artist Eric Palmquist. His paternal grandmother, Kajs Tidholm, was a journalist and his grandfather, Sven-Erik, was a draftsman in addition to his work as a bank clerk buying art for the bank. Aunt Anna-Clara Tidholm is a writer and illustrator and uncle Thomas Tidholm is a writer.
Interest and desire for art
Drawing and watercolour painting were an important part of his childhood and youth. Gustaf participated in a spring exhibition for young people at Edsbyn's Museum and, for a short time, drew a cartoon series published in the local newspaper Ljusnan in the 1990s. After high school, Gustaf applied for a drawing course at Gävle High School and was accepted, but at the age of 15 was not yet allowed to leave home, so he chose a general major in social sciences. After military service, he wanted to go to Konstfack Art School, but Gustaf moved back to Stockholm at age 20 and started working in marketing and sales instead. He eventually started his own music publishing company and worked with musicians, producers, and music production for several years. It was amazing to see these artists develop their creativity and ability to express themselves, and at the same time his desire for art had grown. With the birth of his children, Gustaf began to paint again, but this time with acrylic paints and abstract language.
In childhood, pencil and watercolors were the obvious tools of choice, and the need to represent something was the driving force, inspired by great painters like Carl Larsson, Gunnar Brusewitz and others.
When the desire and urge to create came back, it felt distant, and the need for colour and spontaneous expression was now at the forefront.
A new world without boundaries and predetermined forms of expression opened, and creativity exploded. Gustaf paints mainly with acrylic paints and uses everything that can make an impression in artistic production, various media and tools, kitchen utensils, children's toys, sponges, wooden blocks, water, spatula, and much more.
In 2019, Tidholm opened an Instagram account and began posting his artworks. Almost immediately, followers began to find his account, and it was a great partner for painting to find followers and worldwide inspiration through social media.
This is where Gustaf's experience in marketing proved useful, and followers grew, as did interest in Gustaf's artwork.
It's like being born again and it's never too late to make your dreams come true, he says. Let go and dare to do what gives meaning to your life. If you do, it will give meaning to others as well. There is strength in being self-taught and having experienced a lot in life, Gustaf says. Who knows, maybe his painting would have taken a different direction and found completely different forms of expression.
Gustaf Tidholm's abstract style
Tidholm's paintings strive to affirm the instinctive human need for balance and harmony. The paintings are characterized by their abstract expressionist nature. They are intended to provoke both thought and conversation with oneself or others. What the painting adds is often a question of where it was hung. The artworks can inspire calm or inspire and energize.
His paintings are abstract, and the strongest means of expression are the atmospheric colours and the distinctive and energetic directions of the brushstrokes.
Gustaf's paintings combine art with interior design. He paints to add pleasurable experiences to spaces, not problematizing an issue. The aim is for the artworks to ignite a spark of faith in the future and to stimulate people's good and constructive thoughts.
In the creation and union between the painter and the paint, there's a kind of communication like a dance, Tidholm says, and that's why acrylic paints are so exciting, because the drying time is so fast. It's about letting go and controlling because the paint somehow has a mind of its own.
In the production, Gustaf says it is a perfect meditation. Not infrequently, he has an idea when he begins a painting, but it is rarely something that is realized. The result is usually completely different, created in the moment's inspiration. That's what's so wonderful about abstract painting. The emotion and the subconscious emerge and take over completely. The result is genuine and pure expressions that are amazing to try to interpret and put into words.
At the same time, telling the viewer what the painting represents is secondary. Of course, sometimes it is interesting for the viewer to understand what thoughts the artist has in the artwork itself. But at the same time, the viewer is left with a lot of room for his own interpretations of what Gustaf Tidholm's motifs represent or convey.
Often it is in this very encounter with followers that really creates a great conversation with people. They interpret freely and talk about what they see, how they want the painting to hang, and why they bought the artwork or appreciate it so much. Encounters create an amazing connection and a way to reach out to people, creating even more need for continued creation.
It becomes a democratic process in what is a good artwork or not simply, where the viewer is involved and decides, through their input and feedback to the artist.
In many ways, this is an inspiration and a big part of the driving force, according to Tidholm.
What is Gustaf Tidholm doing now?
Gustaf Tidholm still lives and paints in Stockholm, Sweden. He has developed his own style, mixing expressionist and minimalist expressions, with the movement of colour and form driving the process.
His paintings have been sold to many countries, and he has recently begun collaborating with foreign poster and carpet companies. He has participated in group exhibitions and had his first solo exhibition in Stockholm this June. He was also recently interviewed in a well-known Swedish interior design magazine, and his paintings appeared in several issues of the British lifestyle magazine Tatler in 2022.
Tidholm has made a fantastic start to the artistic career he has wanted to pursue for so long, and the future looks bright. There are still so many incredible expressions lying dormant in my subconscious that I have yet to interpret," Gustaf says.
In the future, he hopes to live and work abroad, perhaps in a warmer climate, to gain new impressions and inspiration.
At the same time, more collaborations and exhibitions are being prepared for the future. So, there's a lot going on, to say the least, and that's wonderful, he thinks.
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About the author
Jose Montero
MOTA MONTERO - Modern Artist
Mota Montero is a graphic designer and photographer with years of experience in the advertisement world. He is also an entrepreneur and loves architecture. In the past, he used to run a successful construction company.
However, he has dedicated his life to art because it makes sense to him and his lifestyle. Moreover, the “Corona Pandemic” was an opportunity for Mota to create a gallery that focuses on finding the best artists worldwide and promoting them to let them thrive. This gallery now features young artists and up-and-coming geniuses in the world of art.