Jwan Yosef

Yosef has a large following on the social media platform, Instagram. He has a great liking for food and reading books.

Yosef is openly gay. Since 2016, he has been in a relationship with the Puerto Rican singer, actor and author Ricky Martin. They confirmed their relationship with an appearance on the red carpet in 2016. The two also attended the ‘amFAR (The Foundation of AIDS Research) Inspirational Gala’ in São Paolo, Brazil. Yosef announced his engagement to the singer on the ‘Ellen DeGeneres Show.’ The two got married in 2017 and live together with Martin’s twins, Valentino and Matteo, born through surrogacy.

Yosef was born on September 6, 1984, in Ras al-Ayn, in northeastern Syria. He is of Kurdish – Armenian descent as his father, Ahmad Yosef, is Syrian Kurd and mother is an Armenian Christian. His parents were from different religious beliefs. When Yosef was 2 his family relocated from Syria to Sweden. In Syrian language, ‘Jwan’ means beautiful, young.

According to Yosef, he has painted since he was a child. From 2004 to 2006 he learnt painting at ‘Pernby School of Painting’ in Stockholm. In 2009, he completed his graduation from ‘Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and design,’ Stockholm. In 2011, he received his MA in Fine Arts from ‘Central Saint Martins,’ London.

After graduating from ‘Central Saint Martins,’ Yosef started looking out for a studio. He worked hard and his work earned attention. He participated in a number of international shows which helped him get more projects.

He participated in several group exhibitions, especially in the Konstfack, Stockholm, during his initial years. Some of the group exhibitions that he took part in the later years included ‘Life Is Elsewhere,’ London (2011), ‘Some Catch,’ London (2012), ‘Journey to the Centre of My Mind,’ Madrid (2013), ‘Faceless,’ Brussels (2015), ‘Re:Define,’ Dallas (2015), ‘Tillstand,’ Karlstad (2016), ‘Lounge,’ Stockholm (2016, 2017) and ‘Over the Rainbow,’ Los Angeles (2017).

He claims that he found inspiration in the art-work of Neo Rauch, Gerhard Richter and Jaan Toomik, but for his own work he takes inspiration from everyday things, experiences and relationships. The chief medium that he uses for his art is oil on Perspex; he also works on canvas.

In 2013, he held his first solo exhibition, ‘Painting about Sex, Flesh, and Violence, lol,’ at the ‘Divus Gallery’ in London. During the same year his second solo exhibition, ‘High Notes,’ was held at ‘Galleri Anna Thulin,’ Stockholm. On November 10, 2016, his third solo exhibition titled ‘Masked’ was inaugurated at ‘Stene Projects’ Stockholm.

In 2015, Yosef was a part of a group exhibition, ‘There and Back Again,’ with fellow artists Nastasja Loutchko, Petr Davydtchenka and Josef Bull. A new contemporary artist studio, ‘The Bomb Factory Art Foundation,’ was established at Archway, North London, in early 2015, and Yosef is a founding member and studio holder at this art foundation.

In 2013, his art earned him two awards – the ‘Columbia Threadneedle Prize’ and the ‘BEERS Contemporary Award’ for ‘Emerging Art.’