Johnny Romeo
IN BETWEEN DAYS
New Paintings
Internationally acclaimed Australian Pop painter Johnny Romeo makes his thunderous return to 12 Gallery in Auckland with his latest collection of new original paintings, IN BETWEEN DAYS. The series sees Australia’s King of Pop contend with the philosophical questions of what it means to be stuck between society re-opening and the ongoing realities of the Corona pandemic, of what it means to wait while the world slowly returns to ‘normal’. Delivered with Romeo’s signature wit and Kitsch Pop bombast, the series bursts out of the gate with exuberant, candy-coloured hues, larger-than-life imagery, and undeniable swagger. IN BETWEEN DAYS is a rollicking celebration of living life to the fullest that urges us to embrace the exciting possibilities of redefining who we are and shaping our own futures, despite the uncertainties of waiting for better days.
Inspired by the beloved 1985 single from English goth rockers The Cure of the same name, IN BETWEEN DAYS offers a spirited exploration of what we do while we wait for the world to return to normal. The past two and a half years living through Covid have given us all plenty of time to take stock of our lives, to reassess what is important to us and reconsider what it is that defines us. For Johnny Romeo, this period of being ‘in between days’ offers us a hopeful time for radical reflection, an opportunity to exist outside of the usual madness of everyday life, to be bold, take chances and chase those dreams we once thought impossible. While we collectively wait for the world to return to some semblance of ‘pre-Corona’ ordinary, Romeo’s exhilarating latest series acts as a powerful call to action for us to never settle, but instead get our hustle on and change our lives for the better.
Romeo uses his unique blend of Kitsch Pop slickness, pithy Pop cultural references and amusingly absurdist humour to create an enthralling Technicolour Pop world of possibilities where chimpanzees become hedonistic Playboys, household hounds become fearsome pirates, and Pop royalty become actual royalty. Despite their disparate origins, each of these figures are bound together by an unswerving sense of self-belief and a commitment to defining themselves on their own terms. Word assemblages such as ‘Never Settle’, ‘New Arises’ and ‘Young Swag’ hit with the punchiness of arena-rock anthems and the braggadocio of hip hop bars, imbuing the works with a vibrant, life affirming energy that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the series. Combined with the lively imagery of Romeo’s paintings, these word assemblages become powerful proclamations of self-determination that stand in direct opposition to the anxieties of living through a pandemic.
Two recurring themes that thread their way throughout IN BETWEEN DAYS are duality and contradiction. Romeo employs clever double entendres in his wordplay and mashups, as well as doubles and triplets, to examine the duality between wanting to return to the comforts of the pre-Covid past, while chasing our dreams in an unknown post-pandemic future. Like The Cure’s ‘In Between Days’, with its lyrical tension between ‘getting so old/I felt like I could die’ and ‘shivering like a child’, the series is full of contradictions that confront the fear of existing amidst major uncertainty. Such instability in times of waiting can lead to us to adopt duplicitous identities, where we protect ourselves from our truth by doing things we don’t mean. In Romeo’s eyes, the answer to this contemporary dilemma is to be true to ourselves, to be present and to embrace our full potential. The artist’s approach to duplicating portraits of stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Prince, influenced by Andy Warhol’s Hollywood screen-prints, is therefore less a case of seeing double due to being torn in different directions, and more about amplifying icons whose sense of identity and self-confidence is so profound that it cannot be contained within just one person.
For a series inspired by waiting, IN BETWEEN DAYS is anything but patient. Australia’s leading culture jammer delivers some of his most impassioned and life-affirming Kitsch Pop works to date as he uses his art as a powerful reminder that we can shape the better days we wait for in the here and now.
Opening reception with Artist – Friday 10th June, 2022 | 5:30-8:30pm @12_gallery, Auckland.
12 Gallery | 9D Vernon Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand | www.12gallery.com
Any enquires regarding Johnny Romeo’s IN BETWEEN DAYS works can be made directly through 12 Gallery (info@12gallery.com) or by calling the gallery on +64 21 501 911.
Exhibition Dates: June 10th – 30th, 2022.
June 9, 2022