John Olsson was born in South Africa, but left at the age of 21 owing to his disgust with the political situation there. Arriving in Britain for the weekend in the 1970's, he thought the language sounded familiar, and so decided to stay, subsequently settling in London and then Wales. His teachers and mentors - he has not attended art college - have been local artists Geoff Sansbury and Auryl Stevens, both former Prix de Rome winners, and both equally committed to contemporary art.

Until this year, Olsson - a former radio announcer and academic - (he has three university degrees and a host of diplomas) - has confined his exhibition work to Open Competitions in the local area. However, after being advised by the various institutional galleries that he was "too radical" for them (i.e. they would not receive a grant if they did a solo exhibition of his work) he decided to convert a disused barn adjacent to his farmhouse into a gallery. Local art impresario Mike Slater, director of the recently founded Parcel Room Gallery, attached to Newtown railway station, saw the work and asked Olsson to, at least temporarily, move the exhibition to Newtown.

Lembit Opik MP, who saw Olsson's work, found it "challenging", while the architect Michael Davies, who is currently overseeing the rebuilding of St Petersburg, called it a "tremendously insightful challenge" into contemporary life. The sculptor Andrew Logan, whose famous museum is also in Mid-Wales has also seen the work, which he referred to as "spectacular".

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