Johnny Romeo
ROCKA ROLLA
Paintings
Internationally acclaimed Australian Pop painter Johnny Romeo makes his thunderous return to Canberra with his electrifying new retrospective, ROCKA ROLLA. The survey, expertly curated by Aarwun Gallery, brings together an array of iconic Romeo paintings from Australian and international collections spanning the artist’s illustrious decade-plus career. ROCKA ROLLA delivers an eclectic selection of visual gems that recalls the giddy excitement of an old-school mix tape while showcasing Johnny Romeo as one of the world’s leading culture jammers. Bombastic and unapologetically irreverent, Romeo’s fusion of off-beat humour, sly cultural references and surreal imagery reconfigures our everyday Pop reality into vibrant slices of Kitsch Pop brilliance.
Erupting on to the Australian commercial art scene in 2007, Johnny Romeo is a veritable tour de force in the international art world who has dazzled audiences around the globe with his delightfully quirky visions of Pop culture. ROCKA ROLLA offers audiences a brilliant insight into the evolution of Australia’s leading Pop artist, exhibiting iconic Romeo paintings that have been extensively sourced from local and international collections. From the grungy, stream-of-consciousness graffiti punk of his earlier period to the sleek, neon-drenched Technicolour Pop of his later work, the retrospective is a testament to Romeo’s masterful ability to push the envelope of Pop Art while continuing to carve out his inimitable Neo-Expressionist Pop style.
Taking its title from the debut album of iconic heavy metal masters Judas Priest, ROCKA ROLLA captures the glorious Technicolour maximalism that has made Johnny Romeo one of the most vital voices in contemporary Pop Art. The cheeky reference to the bruising purveyors of British Steel reflects the exhilarating dynamism of Johnny Romeo’s paintings, which roar with the fiery energy and fist-pumping attitude of heavy metal anthems. Romeo’s signature blend of frenetic imagery, explosive Technicolour arrangements and rambunctious word assemblages create dazzling visions of a hyper-saturated Pop world where rampant advertising and the cult of celebrity are the new rock’n’roll.
As a world-renowned culture jammer, Johnny Romeo gleefully plunders the canon of Pop culture to re-envisage classic Pop icons in humorous and refreshing new ways. The artist draws from the full spectrum of Pop culture, sampling everything from comic book heroes and classic pin-up girls, to rock’n’roll legends and Hollywood heartthrobs, and turning them on their head. Romeo toys with our sense of nostalgia and collective memory, ingeniously using the pulp fiction and cult imagery of the past to subvert our preconceptions of Pop culture and empower us to see the world in an exhilaratingly different light.
Johnny Romeo’s rambunctious blend of exuberant imagery and textual witticisms skewers the zany absurdity of modern life and ruptures our sense of the familiar within Pop culture. Evoking the spirit of Pop Art provocateurs like Jeff Koons and Mel Ramos, Romeo craftily melds the rhythmic punchiness of hip hop and rock’n’roll lyrics to the catchy jargon of advertising to inject new life into Pop culture icons such as Freddie Mercury and Betty Boop.
ROCKA ROLLA is a thrilling retrospective of visual gems old and new that draws deep from Johnny Romeo’s celebrated career as a world-leading Pop auteur. Brimming with neon-drenched Technicolour explosions, bold imagery and razor-sharp wit, the series offers audiences a kaleidoscopic trip through the creative mind of Australia’s King of Pop.
Opening reception with Artist: Friday 20th September 2019 | 6-8pm @ Aarwun Gallery
11 Federation Square, Gold Creek, Nicholls, ACT, Australia. Ph: +61 2 6230 2055
Any enquires regarding Johnny Romeo’s ROCKA ROLLA can be made directly through Aarwun Gallery (aarwuncanberra@bigpond.com) or by calling the gallery on 61 2 6230 2055
RSVP for Opening Night is essential.
RSVP to: aarwuncanberra@bigpond.com
Exhibition Dates: 20th September – 6th October 2019
September 16, 2019