J.E.B. started his artistic journey as a child, where you would always see him with a sketchpad and pencil in his hand. He would draw whatever he saw in front of him -people, places, nature. As a child and teenager, J.E.B. would work on his craft, his technical drawing skills and practice the ability to observe.

​The next chapter on his journey was to become a student of norwegian-canadian artist Len Hansen, where J.E.B. would spend his summers in a charming small town in Italy, called Colla Micheri. Inspired by the narrow streets in the Italian fisherman´s town  and breathtaking landscapes, J.E.B. would continue to develop his oil color palette and his artistic expression.

​J.E.B. decided that he wanted to become a professional artist and sent an application to the art school “Strykejernet” in Oslo, where he got accepted. During the 3-year studies, J.E.B. was required to present his art projects often, which taught him the important skill of describing his work. After learning technical and figurative painting and drawing, J.E.B. moved into the territory of abstract art, where he explored his potential and discovered his own unique style.

​His work can be described as aesthetically pleasing, abstract expressionism and his medium of choice is oil on canvas. His brushwork is controlled, yet intuitive and the underlying meaning of his art is subconscious emotions, relationships and human behavior.

​J.E.B. had his first exhibition at Lørenskog Hospital, where he sold 12 paintings. A doctor at the hospital bought 4 of his paintings.

​He continued to exhibit his artwork at Gallery DC3 in Oslo, where he sold the painting “Road Choices” to an architect firm. And at the end of 2019, he participated in a group exhibition called “Wacky Pop-Up Gallery”.

​In 2019, J.E.B. had two separate exhibitions at Gallery Dalype in Oslo called “Spring” and “Power”, where he received press publication from the national newspaper “Klassekampen”.

​As his career continued to grow in 2020, he showed his work at an exhibition at Akershus Fortress in Oslo called “Migrations from the Middle Ages to Cosmos”, which sparked the attention of a well-known art critic and people from the Norwegian Department of Culture.

Shortly after, J.E.B. showed yet another successful solo art exhibition at the Oslo based gallery Albin Upp. During the exhibition, J.E.B. got approached by the gallerist of  Galleri Berntsen, and now J.E.B. is represented by this prestigeous gallery in Oslo.

​The future looks very promising for Jan Erik Birkelund and he is planning to show his artwork in several galleries in Norway and abroad.

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