Born 1978; based in the southern Swedish city of Malmö.

Karl Valve

My interest in art was inspired by my early fascination of Graffiti as an art form. I believe that that graffiti is echoed in my paintings. I find that combining both paint and photo in my work leads me to view photos as my palette, a myriad of perspectives, moments in time, a moment in life. I’m drawn to cityscapes, architecture which provokes an emotive response in me, to weave together with a scribble, a dialogue between a beautiful building and an automotive line, collage style. There is both pop art and street art in my paintings. Street art has no rules. Creative freedom. Pop art is inspired by its environment, as am I. I love to take photos of all I see and include them in my work both from my home in Malmo and abroad. One of the driving forces behind my work process is I never have an end destination in mind, a finished formula to adhere to, it’s the journey that drives my creative process.



Karl Valve’s paintings exude fragments from both the present from the past. A sense of nostalgia appears, or even a subtle line of text …

Bo Bjelvehammar, Ystads Allehanda 2010-01-25

In his works, he combines a non-figurative lyrical expressionism with figurative fragments, and sometimes even texts. Overall, his paintings give off a dreamy and very appealing character …

Britte Montigny, Skånskan 2008-06-12

In his way of emphasising colours on different layers, it is difficult to get away from a reference of Ola Billgren…

Tor Billgren, Sydsvenskan 2008-06-19