Johnny Romeo is an internationally acclaimed Australian painter. Considered Australia’s leading Pop artist, Romeo is spearheading the global Neo-Expressionist Pop movement with his electrifying collision of rock’n’roll swagger, comic book aesthetics and street art. Described by GQ Magazine Australia as ‘part punk, part pop’, Romeo’s Kitsch Pop works are explosive sugar rushes of Technicolour imagery and urban grittiness that are turning heads worldwide.
Armed with tongue-in-cheek humour and razor-sharp social commentary, Johnny Romeo is today renowned as a world-leading culture jammer. His works explore the influence celebrity icons and brand-name heroes have on our contemporary identity. Romeo approaches his art-making practice like a television, broadcasting colourful Postmodern visions that re-contextualise and seek to make sense of the daily cacophony of images, ads and memes we are bombarded with in our Pop-obsessed culture.
Over the last decade, Johnny Romeo has enjoyed a successive number of critically acclaimed and sold-out exhibitions across Australia, New Zealand, and the US. Romeo has continued his dominance as a world-class Pop artist with acclaimed and sell-out exhibitions in Sydney, Perth, Auckland, Napier, Canberra, and the Gold Coast in 2021 and 2022, and most notably the Australian Consulate-General in New York (2018). He was a highly celebrated feature artist in Brisbane’s Sign of the Times group exhibition, alongside street art juggernauts Banksy, Blek le Rat and Swoon. A major force in contemporary Pop art, Romeo is represented by many top galleries both in Australia and overseas.
Romeo has graced several prominent publications such as the Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue, Australian Art Review, Artist Profile and No Cure Magazine. Television features include the ABC 7:30 Report, Foxtel’s STVDIO, and the ABC documentary 'Conquest of Space: Science Fiction & Contemporary Art’, written and hosted by renowned art critic Dr. Andrew Frost.
On the international stage, Johnny Romeo is a Pop Art tour de force, with hugely celebrated exhibitions in the US, including, New York, Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and recently in Sweden. He has participated in several high-profile group shows across the US and Europe, including Language Art, alongside childhood hero and Pop Art icon Robert Indiana. Romeo made a massive splash as a celebrated featured artist in POP AUSTIN 2017, exhibiting with contemporary art powerhouses like Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Mr. Brainwash. Over the past three years, Romeo has made many standout appearances on US national television and universities. Since 2015, he has released three books examining his paintings and art-making practice: TV Land (2015), 10-year retrospective survey Plastic Fantastic (2017) and Pump Up the Jams: Culture Jamming in the Works of Johnny Romeo (2019).
As one of the biggest names in Pop art today, Romeo’s works are highly sought-after globally, and are held in prominent Australian and international public and private collections. He has collaborated on many illustrious projects with the likes of leading US snowboarding company Gilson Boards, craft beer alchemists Zeroday Brewing Company, world-famous punk band Blink 182 and Lexus Australia.
Johnny Romeo, Hollywood Shuffle , 2022, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas 122 cm x 122 cm
In the history of film, there are few celebrities who embodied the glamour, elegance, and power of celebrity quite like Elizabeth Taylor. Considered one of the greatest actors of all time, Taylor has left an indelible mark on Hollywood that will be felt for generations to come. In Hollywood Shuffle, Johnny Romeo pays homage to the silver screen starlet with an electrifyingly candy-coloured portrait that blends Taylor’s timeless beauty with the artist’s inimitable Neo-Expressionist Pop style. An icon in the truest sense of the word, Taylor is portrayed in the painting as a resplendent Technicolor goddess in double vision whose star power is so undeniable that it cannot be contained in one person alone. Taylor’s enormous influence on the film industry is further reflected in the text passage ‘So Giant’, which nods to the star’s leading role in the 1956 Western drama epic ‘Giant’. Through Romeo’s clever use of erasure and word play, the phrase becomes ‘So Radiant’, a comment on the Hollywood’s star’s larger-than-life personality and breathtaking allure that evokes the ebullient spirit of Keith Haring’s ‘Radiant Baby’. Romeo slyly alludes to his method of shuffling two images of Elizabeth Taylor together to create an optical illusion in the title Hollywood Shuffle, while at the same time referencing the 1987 satirical comedy of the same name. The film explores stereotypes in the American film industry and speaks to the kinds of female stereotypes and expectations of being a role model that Taylor would have had to deal with in her own life.
Johnny Romeo, Rapt Ape, 20222, Acrylic & Oil on canvas 122 cm x 122 cm
In recent times, NFT’s have taken the art world by storm. One of the major symbols of this new NFT movement is the Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of 10,000 profile pictures of bored cartoon apes that have been generated by an algorithm. In Rapt Ape, Johnny Romeo has created a direct challenge to the Bored Ape motif and NFT culture, as he conjures the spirit of the eternal playboy Hugh Hefner through a colourful, pipe-smoking chimpanzee donning a captain’s cap. In contrast to the Bored Ape, Romeo’s Rapt Ape is living life to the fullest and has no time to be bored. Exuding a cheeky demeanour and a rugged charm that rivals Ernest Hemingway, the smoking ape is a fully engaged beast who fills his days chasing the thrill of adventure and the intoxicating allure of excess. There is an irrepressible swagger to the rapt ape which also calls to mind the decadent braggadocio of hip hop, a point that Romeo captures with razor sharp wit in the word assemblage ‘Pipe Dope Game’. By switching from pipe, an object synonymous with Hugh Hefner, to ‘Dope’, the artwork nods to the 1987 rap single ‘Dope Man’ by notorious gangsta rappers NWA. In doing so, the painting ingeniously establishes a connection between this work and Dunk Funk, which depicts former NWA member Dr Dre.
Johnny Romeo, Star Solar Raceway , 2022, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas 153 cm x 153cm
Not all sports cars are created equal. For many, the classic 1970 Porsche 917K was the greatest sports car of its generation and defined competitive racing for fans across the world. Hollywood icon Steve McQueen captured the glory of the Porsche 917K as Porsche driver Michael Delaney in the film ‘Le Mans’ (1971), considered by motor enthusiasts to be the best racing motion picture ever filmed. Johnny Romeo creates a frenetic and larger than life homage to ‘Le Mans’ with his painting Star Solar Raceway, in which he mashes together McQueen, portrayed here in his iconic racing overalls, with the #22 Porsche 917K he drove in the film. Star Solar Raceway’s vivacious colour palette draws inspiration from the rich blues and fiery hues that emblazoned McQueen’s #22 racing car, giving the painting an electrifying energy that conjures the visceral wails of Ferrari 512s and Porsche 917s as they speed across the scorched tarmac. The word assemblage ‘Forever Never Settle’ captures the spirit of the film, urging us to never settle for the classics but continuously chase the dream of speed. Even iconic brands such as Porsche are driven to create cars that reach beyond the abilities of even their most beloved and advanced classic models. Romeo rounds of the work with a rich collection of Pop culture references embedded in the title, Star Solar Raceway. ‘Star’ acts as both a nod to Steve McQueen’s status as a Hollywood star, and to the 1973 Rolling Stones single ‘Star, Star’, which controversially mentioned the actor in its lyrics. The titular ‘Solar’ recalls McQueen’s own production company Solar Productions, while ‘Raceway’ encapsulates the Hollywood star’s passion for motorcycles and competitive racing.
Johnny Romeo, Pretty Star, 2022, acrylic and oil on canvas 122 cm x 122 cm
We can all relate to wanting to escape the humdrum banality of everyday life, of reaching for freedom, of wanting to be more. Johnny Romeo captures this sentiment of aspiring for greatness while being stuck in between days with colourful wide-eyed wonderment in Pretty Star. In the painting, Romeo depicts a Technicolor tabby cat emblazoned with David Bowie’s iconic Aladdin Sane lightning bolt make-up staring out into the outside world as butterflies flutter above his head. The cat’s ponderous, dreamy expression is tinged with a sense of yearning, as he waits for better days where he can transcend his life as a humble family feline and embrace his inner Bowie-esque rock star. References to Bowie in the work continue in the title Pretty Star, the name of a track featured in the glam rocker’s 1973 opus ‘Aladdin Sane’. The song’s hopeful refrain of ‘you and I will rise up all the way’ cleverly ties in with the butterflies that hover above the feline, who act as life-affirming symbols of freedom, big ideas and the power of dreams. Romeo expands on this idea in the word assemblage ‘Sky Fly Dreams’, a cheeky riff on the word ‘butterfly’ that plays with the hip hop connotations of the word ‘fly’ while encapsulating the cat’s own escapist desire to fly towards his dreams
Johnny Romeo, Kingsbury Blue, 2022, acrylic and oil on canvas 101cm x 101cm
When it comes to Pop royalty, the late great George Michael remains one of the undisputed kings of Pop music. In Kingsbury Blue, Johnny Romeo fully leans into Michael’s status as a member of the Pop nobility, re-envisioning the beloved singer as a dashing young king decked out in opulent regalia. Rich shades of blue dominate the colour palette of the painting, imbuing the work with a majestic feel that plays with the notion of ‘blue blood’ and nods to Michael’s own connections with the British monarchy, in particular Princess Diana. Johnny Romeo further links the colour blue to royalty in the work’s title Kingsbury Blue, a reference to the north- west suburb of London in which Michael grew up. Abounding with youthful energy and an irrepressibly regal charm, Romeo’s imperial rendition of George Michael is every bit the ‘Young King’ exclaimed in the painting’s word assemblage. The clever shift from ‘Young King’ to ‘Young Swag’ ingeniously connects George Michael to the world of hip hop and its focus on flashy, stylish confidence. At the same time, the phrase masterfully captures the fire of the singer in the early days of his career as he embarked on a journey to conquer the charts and rise to the ranks of Pop royalty
Johnny Romeo, Pop Life , 2022, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas 122 cm x 122 cm
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For many Pop culture enthusiasts, Prince was the living embodiment not just of Pop’s present, but it’s seductive, boundary-pushing future. In Pop Life, Romeo has crafted a delectable slice of Kitsch Pop that masterfully transforms Prince into Andy Warhol’s iconic portrait of a pistol-toting cowboy Elvis from ‘Elvis I and II’ (1963). Like Warhol’s screen-print, Prince is portrayed in the painting in double, his two pistols pointed towards the audience in a gesture that implies a desire to shake things up and rumble. Romeo further toys with the notion of the ‘double’ in the word assemblage ‘Too Double’, which is altered to form ‘Too Rumble’, a phrase often announced before a boxing or wrestling match. Brimming with vivacious, candy-coloured hues, the painting’s use of the word ‘too’ also begs the question of how much Pop is too much Pop? In the warped, Technicolour mind of Johnny Romeo, the answer is of course that you can never have too much Pop. This point is sharply captured in the title of the work Pop Life, which was lifted from Prince and the Revolution’s 1985 single of the same name. Despite the painting’s glossy, confectionary sweet veneer, there is an underlying darkness to Pop Life. Firstly, Elvis and Prince are both conceptually linked by the fact they tragically passed because of addictions to prescription drugs. Furthermore, the painting is driven by the juxtaposition between the beloved pop star and the violent cowboy ready to rumble, and the contradiction of depicting death dealing guns in a work entitled Pop Life.
Johnny Romeo, First Rise , 2022, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas 101 cm x 101 cm
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Since the mid-20th Century, the Marvel superhero Captain America and the Planet of the Apes franchise have continued to capture the imagination of sci-fi and comic book enthusiasts the world over. First Rise is an exhilarating vision of an alternate universe where apes have not only risen up but have transformed themselves into the very superheroes to which we aspire. In the painting, Caesar, the first ape to develop human-level consciousness in the ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ (2011), is re-envisioned as the star-spangled Avenger himself, Captain America, as he appears in ‘The First Avenger’ (also released in 2011). Romeo skillfully riffs on this idea in the title ‘First Rise’, which examines Captain America’s own origin story, both as the first Avenger, and on a broader Pop culture level as the first comic book hero to be featured prominently in the media in 1944. Decked out in the superhero’s body suit and wielding his signature shield, Caesar is imbued with all the superhuman abilities that make Captain America a truly remarkable champion of justice. The seamless fusion of ape and superhero is amusingly reflected in the text passage ‘Ape Up Swing’. Romeo’s sly wordplay here transforms Captain America’s upswing, used to hurl his shield towards enemies, into the swift movements of Caesar the ape as he swings from tree to tree to embrace his destiny as a superhero.
Johnny Romeo, , 2022, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas 101 cm x 101 cm
In the world of hip hop, there is only one name that fully captures both the roughness and laidback cool of West Coast gangsta rap: Dr Dre. Renowned for his punchy beats and slick use of funk samples, Dr Dre is a true innovator who is today held in the same esteem as other African American greats such as Muhammed Ali. In Dunk Funk, Johnny Romeo ingeniously mashes together the worlds of hip hop and boxing, re-envisaging Dr Dre as a street hardened, Ali-esque boxer delivering beats not only with his fists but also through his music and his headphones (Beats by Dre). Synergies between hip hop and boxing are further established through the title of the painting Dunk Funk. The phrase evokes Dr Dre’s signature G Funk sound through its reference to ‘Dunk the Funk’, a track by the Fila Fresh Crew that was produced by Dr Dre and featured on NWA’s 1987 compilation record ‘NWA and the Posse’. Romeo cleverly connects this work to Rapt Ape through the reference to the NWA compilation, which also includes the track ‘Dope Man’. At the time same time, ‘dunk funk’ also carries with it allusions to the popular boxing style of ducking and weaving, often used by ‘dancing boxers’ influenced by old Buddhist martial arts. References to boxing poses and moves continue with the word assemblage ‘Freeze Flow’, which is cheekily altered to ‘Free Flow’ as way to capture the immense sense of funkiness and flow that Dr Dre brings to hip hop.
Johnny Romeo, Sun Set, 2022, acrylic and oil on canvas 101cm x 101cm
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Rock’n’roll has always played a major role in Johnny Romeo’s art. In Sun Set, Romeo comes swinging out of the gate like a bat out of hell with his purest distillation of rock’n’roll attitude yet. The painting crackles with a fiery energy, depicting a neon- drenched skull staring directly into the audience with a devilish grin as it dons a dapper top hat. The subtle touch of formality given by the top hat cheekily subverts our common perceptions of rock stars as only being uncouth ruffians, while also referencing Slash, the iconic top-hat donning axe-slinger from LA’s finest, Guns N’ Roses. Romeo further captures the ‘live fast, die young’ legacy of Los Angeles in the title Sun Set, an homage to the infamous Sunset Strip in LA that was home to the raucous and depraved glam rock scene of the 1980’s. Sun Set evokes the hedonistic, whiskey-soaked nights that made the Strip the place to be for rock’n’roll mavericks and lost souls, a place where blistering riffs could be heard ringing from sunset to sunrise. Despite being a traditional symbol of death, Romeo transforms his skull into a Technicolour celebration of living life to the fullest, of embracing the danger of rocking out without compromise. They say that rock’n’roll is the devil’s music, but for Romeo these rock stars are not ‘Hell Bound’, but rather ‘Rebel Bound’ radicals who will live forever through the power of their music.
Johnny Romeo, Jolly Rodger, 2022, acrylic and oil on canvas 122cm x 122cm
$9800
Pirates beware, there is a new top dog sailing the high seas in search of treasure and adventure. In Jolly Roger, Johnny Romeo demonstrates his thrilling penchant for kitsch, Surrealist humour and clever mashups as he re-envisions Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise as a dashing pirate dog. The hardened sea dog looks off into the distance with a mixture of optimism and indomitable resolve, his cutlass drawn and ready to strike as he scans the horizon looking for new opportunities. Arising from his past life as an average dog, the pirate hound has found the power to redefine himself as a fearless, swashbuckling captain, a point captured in the anthemic word assemblage ‘Few New Arises’. Romeo turns the humorously drunken antics associated with Jack Sparrow on their head, using the distinguished pirate hound as a symbol for getting up and doing what you’ve got to do to embrace your true self and fulfil your potential. The painting is rounded off on a playful note with the title Jolly Roger, a reference to the infamous skull and crossbones flag design used by pirates to identify their ships during the Golden Age of Piracy. On a more absurdly hilarious note, one could also imagine the jolly pirate hound being called Roger by his crewmates.
Johnny Romeo, Foxy Monkey, 2020, acrylic & oil on canvas 41cm x 41cm (16” x 16”)
Seduction is the name of the game in Johnny Romeo’s sultry, candy-coloured portrait of Marilyn Monroe, Foxy Monkey. In the painting, Monroe exudes classic Hollywood glamour and allure, her smouldering eyes and iconic pout evoking the sensual energy that has made her an enduring sex symbol to this day as she is filtered through Romeo’s hyper-coloured Kitsch Pop lens. However, there is an underlying self-assuredness to the portrait that imbues Monroe with a confident, almost femme-fatale aura. More than just a blonde bombshell, Romeo’s rendition of Marilyn Monroe is a savvy box office star who means business. This sentiment is slickly conveyed in the text passage ‘Foxy Monkey’, a humorous nod to Monroe’s role in the classic 1952 comedy ‘Monkey Business’ and her status as one of 20th Century Fox’s leading stars.
$3600