EstriannaJohnson

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CoBrA Contemporary Artist

Raw
Expression.

Painting at the intersection of instinct and myth — where the primitive and the modern collide on canvas.

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Est. 2009 — Brussels, BE
Painting·CoBrA Movement·Mixed Media·Contemporary Art·Exhibitions·Commissions·Painting·CoBrA Movement·Mixed Media·Contemporary Art·Exhibitions·Commissions·
01 — About

Art as Instinct

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Estrianna Johnson discovered a passion for painting early in life, entirely self-taught. She emigrated to the United States as a young woman, later settling in New York, where she lived at the legendary Chelsea Hotel amid the currents of the Beat Generation and spiritual jazz.
In Paris in the mid-to-late 1960s, she encountered the work of Matisse, Dubuffet, and Chagall, and became part of the CoBrA movement through her close friend Corneille, who influenced her without ever altering her own voice. She paints without sketches and without revision, working in a state of meditative presence.
A discreet but prolific artist, she left behind roughly two hundred canvases and large-format works, most preserved and archived by her son, Alexis Delprat.
200+
Canvases & Works
5
Principal Exhibitions
1969
First Exhibition

Portfolio

Selected
Works

The Believers, 1988

The Believers

1988 - Acrylic
Redemption, 1991

Redemption

1991 - Acrylic
The Cup of Life Contains Eternal Life, 1991

The Cup of Life Contains Eternal Life

1991 - Acrylic
In My Universe, 1996

In My Universe

1996 - Acrylic
Prayssac, 1976

Prayssac

1976 - Oil on canvas
Harmony, 1992

Harmony

1992 - Acrylic
Divided We Stand, 1991

Divided We Stand

1991 - Acrylic

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02 — Philosophy
CoBrA

The Method
Behind the Myth

I.
Surrender

The first mark is always made without thinking. The hand moves before the mind can intervene — pure motor impulse translated into line.

II.
Dialogue

The canvas begins to speak back. Figures emerge from chaos, half-formed beings that demand to be completed on their own terms.

III.
Resolution

A final confrontation with the painting. Some works are finished in one sitting; others require weeks of negotiation before they release you.

03 — History

Selected
Exhibitions

2024
Figures de l'Ombre
Musée d'Art Moderne, Brussels
2023
Primitivisme Contemporain
Galerie du Midi, Lisbon
2022
CoBrA & Beyond
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
2021
Corps Célestes
Galerie Templon, Paris
"

Her paintings bypass the intellect and go straight for the gut. There is something genuinely ancient in the way her figures look back at you.

— Revue d'Art Contemporain, 2023
04 — Get in Touch

Let's
Connect.

Available for commissions, gallery partnerships, and studio visits by appointment. Based in Brussels and Lisbon.