Biography

Butt Johnson is the pseudonym of an artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. His elaborately detailed ballpoint-pen drawings often employ a visual language reminiscent of medieval illustrated manuscripts and old-master engravings, while his subject matter ranges from references to technology and pop culture, such as Street Fighter II and the board game Risk, to art-historical and architectural motifs including Old World maps and Dutch flower arrangements. The flawless precision and complex ornamentation that manifests itself in his work speaks to his dedication to labor-intensive craft, which is rare in contemporary art. Johnson has said of his own work: "We live in a time and culture so abundant with images, subcultures, and the identities borne from them, I want to use them and their visual accoutrements and try to apply them to allegory and see if it works."