The Swedish artist Åke Johansson has the amazing ability to create striking, lifelike renditions of Hollywood celebrities. As a self-taught artist using primarily pencil and charcoal on paper, Johansson captures the essence of these individuals, conveys their moods and desires, allowing the viewer a glimpse into the subjects’ intimate thoughts. Johansson has developed his own unique style that focuses on the figure at hand, attempting to exclude his own personal feelings or readings of the character he recreates. Rather, he intends his is portraits to border on objective; they thus function almost as photographs, presenting the detailed features—laugh lines, twinkling eyes, pursed lips—of the person in question. With these images, Johansson intends to bring pleasure to the viewer, to present him or her with engaging likenesses of famous men and women, to entertain with a flair akin to that of these great movie-star icons.