Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Johnson studied painting, photography, sculpture and installation at University of Reading, graduating in 1989. He moved to Ireland in 1990 and showed widely north and south of the border. In 1994 he appeared in both Works on Paper and Beyond the Partitions, put on by Queen Street Studios, Belfast, with which he was associated. In 2003, under the title Bundles and Ropes, Johnson created an installation made from giant grass at the Art and Design Gallery, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield.