His work often featured tortured, grimacing figures coupled with dark, melancholic themes.
His main medium was drawing and he consciously attempted to forge a new connection with the English Neo-Romantic movement of the early to mid 20th century.
In the late 1970s, he fronted post-punk outfit Camera 3 and played alongside the band Crass.
[citation needed] In later years, Johnson lived and worked as an artist in East Anglia and in Lavenham, Suffolk.
[1] His brother Matt Johnson's band The The released the single 'We Can't Stop What's Coming' the same year and dedicated it to his life and work.