Johnny Romeo
IN A MOONAGE DAYDREAM
New Paintings
Internationally acclaimed Australian Pop painter Johnny Romeo skyrockets back to New Zealand with his electrifying series, IN A MOONAGE DAYDREAM. The dynamic collection of new works marks Romeo’s thrilling return to New Zealand following his critically renowned and sold-out exhibition ‘The Arthouse Series’ at Auckland’s 12 Gallery in 2017. Brimming with larger-than-life colour arrangements and bombastic, tongue-in-cheek imagery, the series vibrantly celebrates the pioneers and radicals who push the limits of what is possible, and dare to dream. IN A MOONAGE DAYDREAM is a visual feast for the senses that sees Australia’s leading Pop artist and culture jammer take his inimitable Kitsch Pop style to cosmic new heights as he explores what it means to make dreams a reality.
The moon plays a central role within the series, acting as an elevated visual symbol that signals a time for dreaming. As the only celestial body outside of Earth that humanity has been able to walk on, the moon acts as a conceptual focal point for the series, highlighting the power of aiming heavenwards and overcoming adversity to achieve the impossible. Johnny Romeo cleverly acknowledges the significance of the moon by opening the exhibition on Friday 21 June, the date of the Winter Solstice in the Southern hemisphere. Known for the being the longest night of the year, Romeo has used this opportunity to allow his audiences to dream a little longer in their own moonage reverie.
For Johnny Romeo, the ‘moonage daydream’ is a state of mind, a space for electrified, far-out ideas where visionaries courageously carve their own paths through the exhilarating terrain of the unknown. The series is filled to the brim with allusions to speed, space and elevation, as Pop culture and historical luminaries are ingeniously transformed into pioneering early 20th Century aviators, rambunctious racecar prodigies and galactic emperors. In Romeo’s Technicolour daydream, speed and movement are king, acting as potent symbols for ambition, where boundaries and limitations are gleefully ruptured in a haze of smoke, screeching tyres, and rocket fuel.
This sense of triumph and perpetual forward motion is captured with undeniable flair in the series, with Johnny Romeo delivering some his most brash and confident works to date. Concentrated bursts of colour explode off the canvass with the sugary rush of a psychedelic fever dream, imbuing the works with a trippy effervescence that evokes fantasies of neon-drenched lunar landscapes. Dripping with an undeniable swagger, Romeo’s latest collection of paintings possess an invigorating graphic gusto that visually distills the fierce ambition and fiery bravado of stars and trailblazers hell-bent on glory.
An eclectic array of musical and cultural references abound throughout IN A MOONAGE DAYDREAM. The series draws its title from ‘Moonage Daydream’, a lesser-known cut from David Bowie’s classic 1972 album ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust’. Inspired by the song’s absurdist space age
lyricism and diverse instrumental palette, the artist gleefully mashes together diverse references ranging from bebop jazz and classic rock, to classic sci-fi, American gothic literature and Japanese anime, and reconfigures them into deliciously warped Neo-Expressionist Pop visions. Romeo injects each painting with his signature blend of offbeat humour and razor-sharp wit, masterfully fusing imagery and word assemblages to conjure the sensory overload of acid-soaked lucid dreams.
IN A MOONAGE DAYDREAM is a thrilling homage to the radicals and adventurers who fearlessly push the boundaries, reach for the stars, and dare to dream. Fusing psychedelic fields of colour, brash imagery and delightfully absurdist humour with a need for speed, Australia’s King of Pop has crafted a scintillating Kitsch-Pop experience that transports audiences across the candy-coated expanses of the Pop universe and invites them to get lost in their own moonage daydream.
Opening reception with Artist – Friday 21st June, 2019 | 6-9pm @12_gallery, Auckland.
12 Gallery | 9D Vernon Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand | www.12gallery.com
Any enquires regarding Johnny Romeo’s IN A MOONAGE DAYDREAM works can be made directly through 12 Gallery (info@12gallery.com) or by calling the gallery on +64 21 501 911.
Exhibition Dates: June 21st – July 12th, 2019.
June 17, 2019