Steven Johnson (Born 1966) is a shamanistic painter of Mescalero Apache ancestry. He’s fine art book maker, artist, author, painter, musician and spoken word performance artist. Johnson utilizes various media to create a celebration of the profane and sacred. His art is equal parts political, holistic, satanic, radical, and extremely personal. Johnson mixes acrylic paints with beadwork, photographic collage, oil paint, DNA as well as human blood to make bold statements about the world we live in and constantly questioning the very nature of Art. Within the last 27 years he has produced huge volumes of bound works on canvas and 14 handmade books. Forms of these have been published by Coyotel Press and Last Gasp in books containing commentary by Genesis P-Orridge, William S. Burroughs, Poppy Z. Brite, H.R. Giger, and Clive Barker. Johnson has been the subject of media attention for his subject matter and controversial approach, and in 2002 a documentary was made about him.
His works are organic in experience, honest, and liberating, void of any censorship and goes against those who would attempt it. They are multi-media explorations into the souls of both the society as a whole and individuals in particular. Johnson’s artwork has been collected by the Black Panther Party, Vincent Price, Stephen King, William S. Burroughs, David Cronenberg, Clive Barker, Cornell University, H.R. Giger, Genesis P'Orridge, American Indian Movement, and Lydia Lunch. Many people have criticized his works because he uses the swastika symbol and sexual imagery for the purposes of controversy and shock.
