We All Shine On: Artist Aaron Johnson’s Cosmic Exploration Opens With A Solo Show at Bowman Hal, Madrid
When American painter Aaron Johnson unveiled We All Shine On at SOLO’S latest space, Bowman Hal, in Madrid this September, it wasn’t just another exhibition opening — it was an immersive journey into colour, spirituality, and the fluid edge between figuration and abstraction. Presented in collaboration with Almine Rech gallery and SOLO CSV, the exhibition invites viewers to step into Johnson’s evolving world of luminous beings, psychedelic palettes, and cosmic contemplation.
The Untitled Magazine was invited to Spain by SOLO for the special opening events, which included an exclusive tour of the SOLO Independencia collection, an artist-led private tour of We All Shine On at SOLO CSV’s Bowman Hal gallery, and an intimate dialogue with Johnson himself. Over the course of our private tour, conversations, and his public artist talk, Johnson offered profound insights into his practice — insights that revealed as much about his spiritual outlook and philosophical influences as they did about the canvases glowing on the walls of Bowman Hal.
Founded by Spanish collectors Ana Gervás and David Cantolla, the SOLO Project (which includes SOLO Independencia, SOLO CSV, SOLO Castanedo, and soon SOLO Lisboa, among others) has quickly become one of Europe’s most ambitious cultural initiatives, supporting artists through collecting, long-term patronage, and experimental production. What began as a private collection has evolved into an ecosystem of interconnected spaces, each with its own identity yet united by a shared mission: to place creation at the center while fostering dialogue between artists, audiences, and disciplines.
An Invitation into SOLO’s Expanding Vision
Our visit began at SOLO CSV with a private tour of the exhibition, led by artist Aaron Johnson, who offered insights into the inspirations behind his vivid paintings. This was followed by an intimate artist talk that illuminated his process and spiritual approach to abstraction. Afterward, we explored the incredible new SOLO CSV space — much of which remains under wraps as the building gradually opens to the public in stages.
The immersive centre for contemporary art and culture, situated within a 4,000-square-metre compound, was spearheaded by Estudio Herreros, one of Spain’s most innovative architectural firms. The contemporary hub offers everything from its own gallery space, Bowman Hal, which was inaugurated in June 2025 as a year-round platform for international collaborations and exhibitions, to massive screening rooms, art restoration areas, dining and listening rooms. After our private tour of the exhibition, which included an insightful artist talk, the experience continued with a private luncheon with Johnson, the SOLO and Almine Rech team. Later that evening, we joined for the official artist talk at SOLO CSV that preceded the exhibition opening, a buzzing celebration attended by the who’s who of Madrid, where champagne and wine flowed as guests toasted the debut of We All Shine On.
Our private tour of SOLO Independencia, which took place the previous day, underscored the collection’s extraordinary range — from established masters to experimental new voices. Designed by architect Juan Herreros, the Independencia building itself is a statement: spiraling, fluid, and filled with works that challenge perceptions. SOLO Independencia houses over 1,200 works from the Colección SOLO. Walking through the space provided context for Johnson’s inclusion in the SOLO project — his practice of pouring, tilting, and manipulating paint until it flows with its own intuition echoed the collection’s ethos of risk-taking and experimentation.
Bowman Hal: A Stage for Psychedelic Spirituality
Located at Cuesta de San Vicente, 36, Bowman Hal is SOLO’s gallery space in Madrid, launched as a platform for international collaborations and bold programming. For We All Shine On, the gallery has been flooded with Johnson’s radiant canvases, each one vibrating with colour and energy.
Johnson, born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1975, first became known for his biting, satirical “sock paintings” made with used socks — part critique, part grotesque humor. Over the years, his work has transitioned into luminous, mystical terrain, populated by beings made of orbs, colour, and light. Today, his paintings are part of collections including MoMA in New York, the Frederick R. Weisman Foundation in Los Angeles, and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art.
At Bowman Hal, Johnson presents thirteen new works created with his distinctive technique of poured acrylics on wet canvas. Using poles with attached brushes, water sprayers, and his own bodily movements to tilt and shift canvases, Johnson embraces unpredictability. Magentas bleed into oceanic blues; yellows surge against deep forest greens. The result is surfaces where abstraction and figuration intermingle, offering an optical experience that is as meditative as it is visually dazzling.
“I feel that the painting is transformed into a true force of nature,” he explained during his talk. “The canvas is so wet that the brushstrokes don’t only bleed, they actually drift. There’s an unpredictability to it that I find compelling — it’s like dancing with the materials.”
Between Abstraction and Figuration
Central to We All Shine On is the tension Johnson navigates between figuration and abstraction. Early works such as Starlight (2022) and Ascension (2022) present crowded scenes of multiple figures, their bodies packed across the canvas. By contrast, his newer compositions focus on pared-down interactions: pairs of beings, punctuated by luminous orbs that pulse with energy.
“One of the most vital points about this new series is that I’m riding a line between figuration and abstraction. The figures are easier; we can describe who they are and what they’re doing. But the abstract passages bring mystery, something ineffable.”
“In 2018 and 2019, I was filling canvases with rows of heads, almost like crowds. But what enchanted me most were the little accidents — the blur, the pour, the unexpected bleed of color inside the figures. Sometimes those moments became little pockets of abstraction within the larger painting. Slowly, those abstract passages started taking over more space. Now, abstraction feels like the terrain I’m most drawn to. It makes the work feel alive in ways that strict figuration never could.”
Light, Orbs, and Spiritual Resonances
The orbs that populate Johnson’s canvases — glowing, floating spheres of color — are more than compositional devices. For him, each orb is a locus of energy, a site where perception and cosmic phenomena overlap.
“There’s an optical experience specific to each orb. They can feel like planets, stars, or cosmic phenomena, but for me, they’re also meeting points between different perceptual realities. My practice is a form of mindfulness and meditation through the movement of the body and the flow of the paint, in search of a unity with the forces of nature.”
Johnson shared with us during his private tour of the exhibition details of his inspiration, including the profound influence of Hilma af Klint, the Swedish painter and mystic. “Hilma af Klint is a major influence. She’s known for her spiritualist, theosophist practice, and literally believed she was manifesting spirits who moved her hands to make the paintings. She had an exhibition at the Guggenheim in New York a handful of years ago, and it was a revelation to the art world… I feel like she’s made a big impact — not just on my practice, but also on many contemporary painters, who I see dipping more into spiritual ideas and esoterica lately.”
He also spoke about the deep impression of Indian art and culture, “I grew up in Minnesota, but my mom was raised in India, so my childhood home was full of Indian images — Ganesha, vibrant colors, textiles. Later, during my MFA, I received a grant to travel there. I visited Khajuraho, famous for its erotic sculptures and pantheon of gods. But what really stayed with me wasn’t just the figuration — it was the color. Driving down highways, you’d see trucks tattooed with gods, flowers, women. Every surface was covered in hyper-saturated color. That palette has never left me. Before that, my paintings were in darker tones. After India, they exploded with brightness.”
The Dance of Process and Philosophy
Johnson often describes his studio as an “experimental laboratory.” Over the past two decades, he has cycled through techniques ranging from sock paintings to reverse acrylic staining. Since 2018, wet-canvas pouring has become central.
“I’m someone who approaches the studio as an experimental laboratory, figuring out ways that I can be expressive with the paint that make sense to me. Over the past 20 years, I’ve employed a variety of techniques, including reverse painting with acrylic polymers, staining, blotting and even working with discarded socks. Since 2018, I’ve explored the possibilities of wet canvas, harnessing the dynamism of water, textile and acrylics in combination.”
“The process is a kind of action painting. I’m indebted to abstract expressionism and the color field painters like Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis. There’s a physicality — the lifting, tilting, pouring — but also a surrender to chance. I think of it as a dance with the materials. They lead as much as I do.”
Cosmic Connections: Stardust and Mortality
“This piece, for example, has a starry, cosmic background,” Johnson said, pointing to a canvas shimmering with blues and silvers. “It made me think about cosmic exploration and Sagan’s idea. Scientifically, all the particles in our bodies, and in everything around us, come from stars that exploded millions of years ago. That idea gives us a connection to the cosmos, a sense of eternity. And at the same time, it makes us reflect on how finite and short our lives really are.”
This dual awareness — of cosmic eternity and human brevity — permeates his canvases. The glowing beings in Moon Monks (2025) and Earth Angel (2025) feel like emissaries from another dimension, while River Spirit, Tree Spirit (2025) and Mountain Kings (2025) root the mystical in nature. Johnson’s beings are not flesh-and-blood; they are formed of color and light, playful yet profound.
Dialogues with Art History
Johnson’s influences range widely — from Hilma af Klint’s mysticism to Picasso’s late works. He explained during our private tour of his show, “I remember seeing Picasso’s late paintings in New York around 2008. At first I didn’t get them — they seemed too fast, too loose. But I kept going back. Eventually, I realized there was something profound in being able to paint that fast and loose. It stuck with me. Now these paintings move much faster. They come out of these very intense days of outpouring — I feel drained afterward, but they have immediacy. That’s why I think about those late Picassos a lot.”
When we asked him how long it takes him to complete a painting, Johnson responded with characteristic humor: “On average, how long does it take to make one? About a week — and 50 years. I just turned 50, so that’s my answer.”
He continued, “Picasso also has this great quote. He said it took him four years to learn to paint like Rembrandt — or maybe Velázquez, I forget — but a lifetime to learn how to paint like a child. I think about that often. My paintings take about a week, and also 50 years.”
A Collaboration Across Borders
We All Shine On is more than an exhibition; it represents a collaboration across galleries and continents. Bowman Hal, as SOLO’s Madrid outpost, joined forces with Almine Rech — the international gallery founded in Paris in 1989 with spaces in New York, Brussels, London, Shanghai, Aspen, and Monaco. Together, they have positioned Johnson’s luminous vision at the heart of Madrid’s cultural calendar.
As Mun-Jung Chang, director of Bowman Hal, put it: “The proposal we present brings together many of the ideas that define SOLO’s overall project. Johnson connects with that constant search for visual languages capable of moving and surprising.”
At its core, We All Shine On is an exhibition about light — light as energy, light as spirit, light as metaphor for interconnectedness. Through color, abstraction, and process, Aaron Johnson reminds us of our cosmic origins and our fleeting existence.
For The Untitled Magazine, the experience extended beyond the gallery walls — from the private preview and artist talks at SOLO CSV, to the extensive tour of SOLO Independencia, and the celebratory Madrid opening attended by the city’s cultural elite.
Johnson’s words resonate long after leaving Spain: “Carl Sagan said we are made of stardust — and I think about that a lot. All the particles in our bodies came from exploded stars. It connects us to the cosmos, to eternity, and makes us reflect on how finite our lives really are.”
Article By Indira Cesarine for The Untitled Magazine
Artwork by Aaron Johnson
Addititional photos by Richard Booth
