Johnny Romeo
YEAR OF THE SASQUATCH
New Paintings
Internationally acclaimed Australian Pop painter Johnny Romeo makes his exhilarating return to Canberra with his thrilling new series Year of the Sasquatch. Comprising of 15 paintings, five of which are smaller in scale, the series marks Romeo’s first show with Grainger Gallery and sees Australia’s King of Pop elevate his inimitable Kitsch Pop style to exciting new heights. In Romeo’s warped Technicolour world, bigger is indeed better as he delivers a visual feast for the senses that dials up his maximalist colour palette, Pop savvy humour and sleek, graphic arrangements up to eleven. Embracing the spirit of its colossal namesake, Year of the Sasquatch is a riotous celebration of living large that encourages us to push boundaries and tap into our inner potential.
The series takes its title from the 1978 book of early Bigfoot sightings by John Willison Green, which Johnny Romeo ingeniously jams together with Chinese astrology to create a new addition to the Zodiac calendar – the Year of the Sasquatch. Within the context of Romeo’s Kitsch Pop Zodiac, the sasquatch is representative of the giant within all of us, the towering persona that refuses to be ignored and drives us to greatness. Various rebellious animals appear throughout Romeo’s latest works, playfully connecting the series to the beasts of the Chinese Zodiac. While the titular sasquatch is not depicted, his spirit permeates these creatures and their human counterparts, who have each forged their destinies in their own unique ways. Romeo uses his penchant for intriguing culture jams to create big personalities that are infused with the effortless swag of hip hop, the youthful insouciance of 90s grunge rock, the slickness of Pop stars and the endearing weirdness of goth.Top of Form
Positivity is the name of the game in Year of the Sasquatch, as Johnny Romeo delivers works packed with bold, encouraging declarations of self-belief. Romeo uses his signature word assemblages as mantras of affirmation that are guaranteed to pull even the most pessimistic Debbie downer out of their funk. Statements like ‘Go Soar’, ‘Chase It’ and ‘Shine Forever’ imbue the series with a Poptimistic energy that motivate the audience to live large and fully embrace their potential. This zest for life is further explored in the series through the artist’s colourful fascination with motion and flight as he transforms ‘crying girls’ into emboldened pilots and pop stars into intergalactic explorers. In Romeo’s neon-drenched Kitsch Pop reality, even dearly departed rock stars refuse to let death stand in the way of a good time as they continue to kick out the jams from beyond the grave.
Inhabiting the larger-than-life spirit of the sasquatch, however, runs deeper than positive catchphrases and good vibes. To ‘be big’ we need to walk the talk and make ourselves seen. For Romeo, achieving our dreams is a challenging, but ultimately rewarding path that requires us to push past our comfort zone and undergo a fundamental transformation of self. Throughout the series, we see a motley crew of ambitious animals, cadaverous crooners and resilient heroines who all possess an insatiable drive for self-improvement. In ‘New Old School’, a chimpanzee strives to overcome his primitive animalistic urges in order to be a crime-fighting Guardian Angel, while in ‘Royal Holla’ a gangster Doberman claws his way up the ranks to become the Top Dog of his kingdom. Motifs such as blue moons, third eyes and flight imagery are littered throughout the series, reinforcing the power of progress and rebirth in enabling us to rise above our current reality and truly live large.
As an accompaniment to the series, Johnny Romeo has included five smaller paintings to be shown alongside the exhibitions’ main works. Drawing on childhood nostalgia, these paintings pay homage to the cartoon heroes and Pop culture icons that inspired Romeo to embrace the idea of Year of the Sasquatch. Characters such as Astro Boy and Donkey Kong inhabit Romeo’s canvasses with a lively and commanding presence that reminds us of the power of childhood wonderment. While smaller and more straightforward in scale, these paintings nonetheless pack a serious punch and reinforce Romeo’s uncanny knack for brash arrangements and striking Pop culture mashups.
Year of the Sasquatch is a life-affirming tour de force of radical positivity from Johnny Romeo that features some of his most confident and exuberant works to date. Brimming with explosive Technicolour imagery and an invigoratingly Poptimistic world view, the latest series from Australia’s leading Pop artist reminds us that the year of the sasquatch is the year of living large, and the year of living large begins in the here and now.
Opening Reception with Artist: Thursday 24th August 2023 @ 6:00-8:00pm
Grainger Gallery, Building 3.3/1 Dairy Road, Fyshwick 2609, ACT, Australia. Ph: +61 404 769 843.
RSVP to attend the opening of Johnny Romeo’s YEAR OF THE SASQUATCH is essential.
RSVP to: art@graingergallery.com.au
Any inquiries regarding Johnny Romeo’s YEAR OF THE SASQUATCH can be made directly through Grainger Galleries (art@graingergallery.com.au) or by calling the gallery on +61 404 769 843.
Exhibition Dates: 24th August – 10th September 2023
August 20, 2023