Johnny Draco

Johnny Draco is a painter whose work blends abstraction, Afrofuturism, and cultural symbolism to tell visual stories rooted in memory, identity, and imagination. Through layered compositions, stylized figures, and textured gradients, he creates scenes that exist between the spiritual and the physical—between what is remembered and what is becoming.

His paintings are often populated by masked or fragmented characters—figures that emerge from bold color fields, silhouetted spaces, or carved forms. These characters are not just subjects, but vessels. They carry the weight of ancestry, emotion, and protection. Draco’s work resists literal interpretation; instead, it invites a sensory experience. He tells stories through form, repetition, negative space, curvature, and geometry—letting shape and surface do what words cannot.

Abstraction plays a central role in this process. By breaking down the figure and reconstructing it with intention, he opens up space for feeling and interpretation. His use of color gradients evokes emotional shifts—soft transitions from one state of being to another. Earth tones are often paired with vibrant hues, symbolizing the balance between rootedness and expansion, history and future.

Cultural influence i...

Morehouse College B.A. Political Science

Selected Solo Exhibitions
‍2024
‍Zone, Flow Chiropractic, Denver, CO
Conscious with the Energy, Art District of Sante Fe, Denver CO
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‍2023
New Works, Abstract, Denver, CO‍

‍2019
‍YEAR ONE, Recreative Denver, Denver, CO

‍2018
‍Due Rent, Bait, Denver, CO
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‍2016
‍Homage, Studio No. 7, Atlanta, GA
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Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Fiber Art Today, McNichols Building, Denver, CO
Foot Fetish Group Show, Mirus Gallery, Denver, CO
Creepshow, Atlo Gallery, Denver, CO
Ventanitas, El Fresco, Miami, FL
One Square Foot, Redline Gallery, Denver, CO
Sincerly Yours, B.1 Gallery, Los Angelos, CA
Black in Every Color, Los Angelos, CA
Winter Residency Show, Another Gallery, Denver, CO
Currents, Truss House, Denver, CO
Not Another Black Art Show, Niza Knoll Gallery, Denver, CO
Epochalypse, DSDI, Denver, CO
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2024
Nexus, Mirus Gallery, Denver, CO
‍Anonymous One Square Foot, Redline Gallery, Denver, CO
Curious Realms, Dairy Arts Center, Boulder, CO
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‍2023
‍Six by Six Group Show, ABV Gallery, Atlanta, GA
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‍2022
‍Creepshow, ILA Gallery, Denver, CO
Six by Six Group Show, ABV Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Locals Only Group Show, Mirus Gallery, Denver, CO
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‍2021
‍Black Vanguard Group Show, ILA Gallery, Denver , CO
Friends and Family Group Show, Mirus Gall...