Johnny Romeo
BURN DOWN THE DISCO
New Paintings
Internationally acclaimed Australian Pop painter Johnny Romeo storms into 2020 with his incendiary new series BURN DOWN THE DISCO. Romeo’s latest exhibition is an electrifying romp through the lawless wastelands of Pop culture and marks the artist’s triumphant return to Perth since his widely celebrated show Rock Is Dead in 2018. A revolutionary call to arms amidst the chaos of contemporary life, the series showcases Australia’s King of Pop at his most provocative and confrontational, as he injects a healthy dose of venom into his inimitable Kitsch Pop style. BURN DOWN THE DISCO is a thrilling and fiendishly fun homage to the mavericks, misfits, maulers and madmen who laugh in the face of danger as they build a new dawn upon the ashes of the disco inferno.
Australia’s leading Pop artist delivers a veritable Technicolour roller-coaster of gloriously hyper-Kitsch imagery and dystopian Pop menace that sees Johnny Romeo craft his most visually striking works to date. Teeming with an unbridled ferocity and an irrepressible Pop slickness, BURN DOWN THE DISCO transports audiences on a visceral and emotionally charged deep dive into the twisted rabbit hole of Pop culture. Colours virtually burst from the canvas with the subtlety of a molotov cocktail, as Romeo employs a fiery arsenal of acid-tinged neon colours and sugar pastel hues to imbue his paintings with a complex and volatile emotional gravitas.
BURN DOWN THE DISCO bristles with a raw, primal energy that courses through each of its works like shots of pure adrenaline. Animals, who feature heavily in the series, are depicted as larger-than-life embodiments of freedom and lawlessness, as Johnny Romeo cheekily transforms owls into intergalactic hip hop moguls and grizzly bears into neon-drenched surfers conquering the great waves of the Kitsch Pop wasteland. Romeo’s fascination with the animal kingdom, in particular the motif of the tiger, strikes at the heart of his latest body of work. Referenced throughout the series, the tiger acts as a potent symbol of legacy, resilience and survival, a creature untethered by limitations or possibilities that calls on the audience to ‘embrace the beast within’.
Inspired by The Smiths’ iconic 1986 indie rock single ‘Panic’, BURN DOWN THE DISCO is characterised by a revolutionary desire to be bold and relentless, to dismantle outdated traditions by forging new paths into the unknown. Romeo’s slick, Kitsch Pop stylings take on a decidedly nihilistic turn in his latest series, as the artist creates imposing renditions of infamous comic book villains, historical anti-heroes and notorious rulers such as Ned Kelly, The Joker and Napoleon Bonaparte. Dripping with an undeniable attitude, the artist portrays these figures as pistol-toting cowboys, cosmic bushrangers and tribal tattooed generals hell-bent on ‘kicking down their idols’ and making their mark in the world by any means possible. Inspired by the films of Martin Scorsese, the feverish intensity and bare-knuckled grit with which Romeo approaches these works poignantly captures the darker sides of ambition and toxic masculinity, where the desire to take on the world degenerates into senseless violence and destruction.
Much like the music of The Smiths, however, Johnny Romeo masterfully tempers the caustic and confrontational elements of his new series with a delightfully quirky and off-beat sense of humour that rails against the staid complacency of contemporary Pop culture. Rock’n’roll lyrics, gangster rap bars, Hollywood film names and Internet memes all take on a new life in BURN DOWN THE DISCO, as the artist pushes his signature blend of vibrant imagery and savvy word assemblages to deliciously Absurdist heights. Romeo drags vintage Pop culture and historical imagery kicking and screaming into the 21st Century, using juxtaposition, humour and razor-sharp wordplay to provide pithy commentary on contemporary issues ranging from meme culture, to nationalism and mental health.
BURN DOWN THE DISCO is a knockout series from Australia’s King of Pop that bursts at the seams with Johnny Romeo’s most explosive colour arrangements, fiendishly slick linework and biting satirical observations to date. Taking his signature Pop stylings to gloriously Kitsch and unflinchingly vicious extremes, Romeo’s latest series is a celebration and critique of our primal and animalistic nature, of our desire to set the dancefloor ablaze and start anew in a savagely thrilling Technicolour world where the only law is the law of the wild.
Opening reception with Artist: Thursday 26th March 2020 | 6-8pm @ Linton & Kay Galleries, Subiaco Gallery / 299 Railway Road (Corner Nicholson Rd) Subiaco WA | +61 8 9388 3300
Any enquires regarding Johnny Romeo’s BURN DOWN THE DISCO can be made directly through Linton & Kay Galleries (subiaco@lintonandkay.com.au) or by calling the gallery on +61 8 9388 3300
lintonandkay.com.au
RSVP for Opening Night is essential.
RSVP to: subiaco@lintonandkay.com.au
Email for a catalogue to: subiaco@lintonandkay.com.au
Exhibition Dates: 21st March – 12th April 12th, 2020.
March 20, 2020