A Tomcat and a Cowboy Walk Into a Bar by Aaron Johnson, sold for $500 at Heritage Auctions Prints & Multiples Showcase Auction on Sept. 15, 2021 in Dallas. Johnson has been painting professionally for the past 20 years, having moved to New York City to pursue this passion after graduating from college as a biology major.
The spooky monster-esque faces gracing our cover are a specialty of Johnson’s. In an exclusive interview with HYPEBEAST, the leading online destination for all things contemporary and on trend in the fashion and art world, Johnson divulges that his thought process behind these signature works is “creating a kind of balance between what can the paint do on its own as like an abstract element and where do some of these figures become more rendered or they become sort of more familiar, more human, and more detailed.” He also credits Chicago Imagists such as Max Ernst and James Esnor as his inspirations.
Right on theme, and in time, for Halloween, Johnson has just released TRUE BELIEVER, a limited edition green glowing ghost figure made entirely of blown glass, in collaboration with the Belgian studio Case Studyo. It’s safe to say, despite his penchant for depicting ghoulish creatures, this contemporary artist won’t be vanishing off our radar anytime soon.