THE ARTIST SPHERE
Johnny Romeo - Culture Jamming through Pop Aesthetics
Photographed by Urbane
Internationally acclaimed and considered Australian leading Pop artist , Johnny Romeo has been passionate and drawn to the arts since he was a young boy . Our team met Johnny during his recent exhibition in Perth - “ Dodge City ” hosted by Linton & Kay Galleries . He shares with us his journey as an artist , his views of the art world , and inspirations to create .
Meeting Johnny is somehow comparable to an encounter with Carroll ’ s “ Mad Hatter ” or Dahl ’ s “ Willy Wonka ”, a distinctive character in a world of his own creation . An exclusive exhibition hosted by Linton & Kay Galleries allowed us to discover the artist from two sides : through his paintings brightening the walls of the gallery and on a human level ; an allure of a performer - amicable , eloquent with art descriptive conversations .
Born in Sydney , Australia , to Italian immigrant parents , Johnny knew from a young age he wanted to pursue a career in art . With the unwavering support of his parents , he was able to embark on this incredible journey . However , with a piece of advice from his father that he still lives by today : “ pursue your passion with all you have , but always have something safe on the side ; something that will feed you , pay your rent , pay for the materials you need to practice your art , help you get your first art studio .” Later in his artist career , Johnny would understand the importance of his father ’ s words and secured a teaching job at a school while he was an upcoming artist .
His first encounter with art : “ I remember , clearly , being a 13-year-old boy at school and finding a Picasso catalogue in an art room . Blown away by his work and character , I knew that day I would become an artist . I took home this precious finding of mine , started drawing , and since then , I ’ ve never stopped ...”
Greatly inspired by early 20th century iconic figures such as Picasso , Matisse , and Legér , Johnny shaped his style and defined his own character on par with those icons who pioneered paradigm shifting movements such as Modernism , Cubism , and Fauvism . Somehow avant-gardist , somehow pop , Johhny ’ s art is unmistakably recognisable , visually , and memorable in essence .
Societal and cultural theorem in an equation of iconography , typography , and street art , Johnny ’ s art transports us to a “ recontextualised version of reality ” with a visual punch of technicolored protagonist , enhanced with the dramatic scale of each piece . Like a “ mirror to reality projecting what life is like ”, Johnny takes in real life events in our society , jams , and remixes them to create an amalgamated postmodern , expressionist scene with a hint of symbolism and nostalgia of our childhood heroes and idols .
“ My dream as a painter , is to reappropriate Picasso ’ s “ Guernica ” in my own style . A remixed , colourised version taking on the subtle element of “ hope ” from the original piece , expanded to become the hero of the new piece . A mirror version of hope and joy from an originally macabre and dark masterpiece .”