AARON JOHNSON - We All Shine On

AARON JOHNSON 

*We All Shine On

written SIMON RIEPE

It’s a sunny Wednesday in Madrid - Bowman Hal, the new gallery space at SOLO CVS near Plaza de España, is filled with vibrating colours. Surrounded by floating heads, luminous orbs and smiley faces with multiple eyes the artist Aaron Johnson is guiding through a spirit realm, his solo exhibition WE ALL SHINE ON.

Aaron Johnson was born in St. Paul, Minnesota (USA) and studied molecular and cellular biology before committing fully to art. After moving to New York and with no traditional training in painting, he discovered the work of Jackson Pollock and began exploring free, gestural painting. It echoed his background in science and his atelier became a laboratory. Experiments like colour flowing over canvases consisting of used socks glued together resulted in grotesque, yet already otherworldly figures.

Until in 2018, he showed SOLO „How the Lemons Got Loose“. The painting is part of the SOLO Collection and is his first artwork made by using acrylics on a soaking wet canvas, the technique that is keeping him engaged since then. He begins with mark-making and establishing a colour sensibility. The first day is an intense, wet process on the floor. He pours paint on watery canvas, tilts, lifts, sprays. Watches colour flow, merge and transform. Johnson is happy to give away to chance and encourages the matter to reveal itself. He is especially interested in an abstract occurrence he calls ‚Orbs‘. It’s thicker colour poured on more liquid acrylic on a wet surface. The thick colour gets ripped apart creating halo-like forms that give a lead for the next day. Then, when all is dried up, he hangs the canvas upright and starts to resolve the composition. Multiple eyes, mouthes and sometimes feed are added, giving the abstract flow of colour a more figurative from. He calls them „Moon Monks“ (2025), „Star Travelers“ (2025) or „River Spirit, Tree Spirit“ (2025). Spirits which have emerged from the process itself. And it seems like Johnson merely helped them to reveal themselves to the world.

Aaron Johnson
We Wait For You, 2025
Acrylic on canvas
157.5 x 127 cm

Aaron Johnson
We All Shine On Installation View / © Bowman Hal

Missing a deeper connection with nature, Johnson moved from NYC to LA about 2 years ago. There, surrounded by cacti and green mountains, animism slipped into his body of work, believing that nature holds consciousness. His paintings have grown lighter, happier, infused with a sense of connection. Spirits rise out of rivers and trees, glowing ancestors linger in skies, pairs of figures merge into one another like lovers or reunited souls. The beings in WE ALL SHINE ON remind us, that we are all just made of stardust, that we just form a small part of the bigger picture. And they are welcoming us into their circle and let us get in touch with the interconnectedness.

It is striking that one has a hard time leaving the exhibition without feeling lifted, happy and hopeful. Do Johnson’s spirits have a healing power? In today’s climate of crisis - wars , right wing politics, ecological collapse - these canvases feel like an intentional counter-image. Johnson does not paint apocalypse. He paints visual rehearsals for connection, realism where light and colour choose kindness. We all must be able to imagine a positive feature before we can build it. And WE ALL SHINE ON helps us do exactly that.
Yet, amid the cosmic vastness, there’s always a sense of humor: big feet, goofy teeth, smiley faces. Johnson’s work doesn’t want to sermonize, it invites. Because the end is not inevitable. The door is always open.

Aaron Johnson
Ascension, 2022
Acrylic on canvas
213 x 183 cm
We All Shine On Installation View / © Bowman Hal

Aaron Johnson
Earth Angel, 2025
Acrylic on canvas
157.5 x 127 cm

The exhibition is presented at Bowman Hal, a new gallery space of SOLO CVS in Madrid, in collaboration with Almine Rech. Bowman Hal is part to the international SOLO project, which supports artists through exhibitions and commissions. It’s own collection holds over 1200 works of art. For Johnson, who’s paintings are already in the MoMa in New York or the Weisman Foundation in Los Angeles, this solo exhibition marks another step in a career that spans from science studies over sock paintings to cosmic spirits and showcases his latest body of work.

WE ALL SHINE ON is on view at Bowman Hal in Madrid until November 15, 2025. If you’re able to go, give yourself time. Let the orbs do their work. Choose your favorite and stay a minute longer than what might feel reasonable. And you might notice… the paintings breathing back.

credit for header image:
Aaron Johnson / We All Shine On Installation View / © Bowman Hal

Pictures via PR
thanks to SOLO CONTEMPORARY