Jonas Nobel (b. 1970) is a Swedish artist based in Stockholm.

Throughout his practice, Jonas Nobel’s collages, paintings, drawings and sculptures have periodically seemed to have been inspired by mass production and industrial representation. A statement often read in conjecture with Nobel’s work. This is a fallacy. Although the contents of various works may appear slightly absurd and can bring “impossible shapes” to mind, or “degenerate images” as they are also called, the artist’s work is in almost all aspects completely organic. The internal contradictions in the objects found in the paintings and sculptures themselves in the exhibition Seducing Birds and Humans form the foundation of a complex innominate object.

Painting, the camera, 3D scanning and AI are all techniques for creating representations. Nobel has examined the story of Zeuxis and Parrhasius and the myth of Pygmalion. Going back to these early sources is one way of establishing a grounded framework for his practice. The artist describes the work in the studio as completely free, without restraint or daily hindrance, and therefore the need for a certain containment and structure via various articulated frameworks allows the artist to steer his artmaking in a particular direction. Thus, the myths and stories become and are a fundamental component of his methodology, rather than merely illustrations.

In the studio, Nobel defined the opposite of Artificial Intelligence as Authentic Intuition, and worked accordingly — intuitively, associatively and through steadfast decision-making. The materials are chosen on the basis that the artist can work quickly and does not need to have excessive respect for the material initially. If something develops in a way that Nobel doesn’t appreciate, or disappoints, he discards the object, or saws it off, possibly attaching a new piece of wood or another material. This continuous evaluation is repetitive, taking place throughout the entire process.