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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Aaron Johnson isn't afraid of the profane — in fact, he almost always goes there. The Brooklyn-based artist has a solo show at Stux and Haller Gallery in New York titled "Pisockophilia." The show features his reverse painted acrylic polymer peel paintings as well as his sock paintings, which are, in essence, hand-painted assemblages made of the discarded footwear. Johnson's work is maniacal and frenzied. It throws propriety out the door and its characters, with their gnawing teeth and hungry eyes, act on a wide variety of carnal desires. Johnson's humor is almost slapstick and his paintings are tactile and action-packed. The title of the show comes from one of Johnson's recurring characters, Pisocko — a warped, unhinged Picasso-esque artist made out of socks. "Pisockophilia" is on view at Stux and Haller through March 21.
Manic characters grin wildly in Aaron Johnson's over-the-top, explosive paintings. The Brooklyn-based artist's work overflows with gross-out humor and in-your-face sexuality, which he renders in a color palette of hyperactive, neon acrylics. While paintings on fabric comprise the majority of his work, Johnson has an ongoing series of sculptural sock paintings (made from used, donated socks from his social media followers, mind you) that evoke both assemblages and D.I.Y. puppetry. Darkly funny, Johnson's gag-filled work nods to the over-saturation of violent and sexual imagery in our media culture with its blatant absurdity.