Biography

Johnny Romeo
YEAR OF THE SASQUATCH

Opening Thursday 24 August 6pm

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.

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.


SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023 YEAR OF THE SASQUATCH, Grainger Gallery, Canberra, Australia.
2023 CLOUD 9, West End Art Space, Melbourne, Australia in association with Anala Art Advisory,
Sydney, Australia.
2022 LANDED!, Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia.
2022 Ned Kelly Revisited, 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia in association with Sofitel Gold
Coast Broadbeach, Australia.
2022 In Between Days, 12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
2022 CHOOSE LIFE, Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia.
2021 Colossal Youth, Aarwun Gallery, Canberra, Australia.
2021 RISE, Boyd-Dunlop Gallery, Napier, New Zealand.
2021 New Clear Days, Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia.
2021 Kings Of The Wild Frontier, Graphite Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
2021 Nothing Is Real, 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
2021 Selected Works, Hell’s Kitchen Gallery, Tiny Tree Cafe, Brisbane in association with 19Karen, Gold
Coast, Queensland, Australia.
2020 The Sunny Side Of The Moon, Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia.
2020 The Beautiful People, Galleri Lohme, Malmo, Sweden.
2020 Sign Of The Times, Boyd-Dunlop Gallery, Napier in association with 12 Gallery,
Auckland, New Zealand.
2020 Burn Down The Disco, Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia.
2020 Johnny Romeo Pop-Up, Harvey Galleries, Melbourne, Australia.
2019 To The Extreme, Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia.
2019 ROCKA ROLLA, Aarwun Gallery, Canberra, Australia.
2019 Marquee Moon, Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
2019 In A Moonage Daydream, 12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
2019 DREAM-LAND, 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
2018 The Last Days Of Disco, Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia.
2018 New Americana, The Australian Consulate-General, New York in association with Anala Art Advisory, New York, USA.
2018 Guns’N’Poses, Aarwun Gallery, Canberra, Australia.
2018 Rock Is Dead, Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia.
2017 Electric Boogaloo, Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia.
2017 The Arthouse Series, 12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
2017 Boogie Street, Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
2017 Pure Heroine, Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia.
2016 Ghetto Superstar$, Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia.
2016 Lincoln : The Freedom Series, Converge Gallery, Pennsylvania, USA.
2016 American Woman, Anala Art Advisory in conjunction with The Ausin Group, Melbourne, Australia.
2016 Wasteland, Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane, Australia.
2016 27, Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
2016 When We Ruled The World, Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia.
2016 Lincolns On Lincoln, Venice Heights / China Inn Gallery, Venice, California, USA.
2015 Selected Works, Penny Contemporary, Hobart in conjunction with Bespoke Melbourne, Australia.
2015 Pop Life, 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
2015 TV Land, Converge Gallery, Pennsylvania, USA.
2015 Angry Birds, Porter Contemporary, New York, USA.
2015 Print Pop Up Show: POPtometry, Hoff Optometry & Eyewear, Venice, California, USA.
2015 Top Of The Pops, NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
2015 Open Studio, Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia.
2015 Sonic Youth, Prize of Venice, Venice, California, USA.
2014 Wasted Years, 12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
2014 ICONS, CG Projects, Pennsylvania, USA.
2014 Editions on Paper: Too West Coast, Petra Gallerie, Beverly Hills, California, USA.
2014 Dirty Boulevard, Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
2014 Pussy Riot, Muk Muk Fine Art, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
2014 Pussy Riot, Muk Muk Fine Art, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.
2013 POPism: The Andy Warhol Show, 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
2013 Editions on Paper: Forever Young, Jeanie Madsen Gallery, Santa Monica, California, USA.
2013 Deadwood, NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
2013 Grindhouse, Porter Contemporary, New York, USA.
2012 Bloodsport, Buratti Fine Art, Perth, Australia.
2012 When Doves Cry, Letham Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
2012 Cop Killer, Muk Muk Fine Art & Sprout Creative, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
2012 Cop Killer, Muk Muk Fine Art, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.
2011 Romeo Must Die: The Super Villain Series, NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
2011 Sin City, Buratti Fine Art, Perth, Australia.
2011 Special Release: Ned Kelly Hero Series, 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
2010 Spiderbait, 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
2010 Electric Bird, Letham Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand.
2010 Johnny Romeo Vs David Spencer, United Galleries, Perth, Australia.
2010 You’ll Never Take Me Alive! The Ned Kelly Hero Series, NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
2009 Candyland, 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
2009 Crisis On Infinite Earths, Letham Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2009 Flight Club, Gilligan Grant Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
2008 Dove Kidney Zoo, NG Art Gallery in association with Maurice Byer Chambers,
MLC Centre, Sydney, Australia.
2008 Galaxy Cattle, NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia.
2007 Brain on a Machine, China Heights, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia.
2007 Converse, Regard Gallery, Darlington, NSW, Australia.
2007 Live at the Apollo, Newview Gallery, Newtown, NSW, Australia.