About The Artist

Jan J. Beran was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia in 1954, to a family of artists and filmmakers. Raised in the atmosphere of creativity and experimentation, Jan tried his hand at sculpture as a young child. At the age of six, Jan had his first sculpture exhibition in Sarajevo. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in television journalism from Sarajevo University, Jan began working as a TV/ film cameraman and a Director of Photography for several production companies. Jan studied art in the rich environment of Sarajevo, influenced by the mixture of Eastern and Western cultural traditions in the city. While traveling around the world, the young artist was exposed to a variety of different cultures which helped him grow as a painter and develop his distinctive style. Jan’s realistic images are penetrated with a subtle mysticism. Executed with photographic precision, Jan’s series of works includes oil paintings and collages on wood panels and canvas. In a series of female portraits, his main subject, Jan pays tribute to the tradition of canonical icon painting by utilizing gold and silver leaf, incorporating rusted metal details, and using traditional techniques of canon painting mastered hundreds of years ago. Full of emotions and inspired by the events from his own life, Jan’s paintings weave stories of love and hate, beauty and sensitivity, while juxtaposing past and present. Jan's paintings are full of references to his travels, art studies, rock music, and his life spent in the bustling world of Hollywood. Jan’s portraits on canvas are reminiscent of medieval era paintings, translated into a contemporary visual language.