Johnny Romeo
“The use of language in my paintings is important. I often like to think of the text in my paintings as television ‘ad‑breaks’ on canvas, filtered through the syncopated cadence of Beat poetry and rap music.”
Johnny Romeo is an internationally acclaimed Australian contemporary pop painter. His bold, hyper-colourful work combines Neo-Expressionism, the grit of street art, the swagger of rock 'n' roll, and pop imagery to critique consumer culture and identity formation. Described by GQ Australia as "part punk, part pop", Romeo's work features dynamic characters — from politicians to comic-book icons — paired with clever stenciled text and layered linguistic playfulness that challenges clichés and commercial slogans.
Over the past decade, he has presented critically acclaimed solo and group exhibitions across Australia, New Zealand, the US and Sweden. These include a 2018 show at the Australian Consulate-General in New York, as well as participation in Brisbane’s Sign of the Times alongside street art luminaries such as Banksy and Blek le Rat. His work has been featured in leading publications such as the Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue, the Australian Art Review and Artist Profile, and has been showcased in exhibitions in bustling art capitals ranging from Sydney and Perth to Auckland and Canberra.
Based in Sydney and Los Angeles, Romeo creates large-scale acrylic and oil paintings, layering vivid palettes over stencilled expressions and cultural icons. Each piece is a vibrant 'sugar rush' tableau infused with punning humour, nostalgia and kinetic energy that transforms mass media imagery into contemporary visual commentary.
About the Artist
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Lives and works in Sydney and Los Angeles
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Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
Whatever! — Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia
Satellite Sky — Thomgallery, Byron Bay, NSW, Australia
Wandering Star — Graphite Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
New Radicals — Boyd-Dunlop Gallery, Napier, New Zealand2023
Future Days — Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia
Biggie Smalls — Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Dodge City — Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia
Year of the Sasquatch — Grainger Gallery, Canberra, Australia
Cloud 9 — West End Art Space, Melbourne (with Anala Art Advisory, Sydney)2022
Landed! — Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia
Ned Kelly Revisited — 19Karen, Gold Coast, QLD (with Sofitel Gold Coast Broadbeach)
In Between Days — 12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Choose Life — Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia2021
Colossal Youth — Aarwun Gallery, Canberra, Australia
Rise — Boyd-Dunlop Gallery, Napier, New Zealand
New Clear Days — Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia
Kings of the Wild Frontier — Graphite Gallery, New Orleans, USA
Nothing Is Real — 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Selected Works — Hell’s Kitchen Gallery, Tiny Tree Café, Brisbane (with 19Karen)2020
The Sunny Side of the Moon — Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia
The Beautiful People — Galleri Lohme, Malmö, Sweden
Sign of the Times — Boyd-Dunlop Gallery, Napier (with 12 Gallery, Auckland)
Burn Down the Disco — Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia
Pop-Up — Harvey Galleries, Melbourne, Australia2019
To the Extreme — Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia
Rocka Rolla — Aarwun Gallery, Canberra, Australia
Marquee Moon — Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania
In a Moonage Daydream — 12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Dream-Land — 19Karen, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia2018
The Last Days of Disco — Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia
New Americana — Australian Consulate-General, New York (with Anala Art Advisory)
Guns’N’Poses — Aarwun Gallery, Canberra, Australia
Rock Is Dead — Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia2017
Electric Boogaloo — Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia
The Arthouse Series — 12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Boogie Street — Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania
Pure Heroine — Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia2016
Ghetto Superstar$ — Harvey Galleries, Sydney, Australia
Lincoln: The Freedom Series — Converge Gallery, Pennsylvania, USA
American Woman — Anala Art Advisory with The Ausin Group, Melbourne
Wasteland — Mitchell Fine Art, Brisbane, Australia
27 — Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania
When We Ruled the World — Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia
Lincolns on Lincoln — Venice Heights / China Inn Gallery, Venice, California, USA2015
Selected Works — Penny Contemporary, Hobart (with Bespoke Melbourne)
Pop Life — 19Karen, Gold Coast, QLD
TV Land — Converge Gallery, Pennsylvania, USA
Angry Birds — Porter Contemporary, New York, USA
POPtometry — Hoff Optometry, Venice, California, USA
Top of the Pops — NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Open Studio — Linton & Kay Galleries, Perth, Australia
Sonic Youth — Prize of Venice, Venice, California, USA2014
Wasted Years — 12 Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Icons — CG Projects, Pennsylvania, USA
Too West Coast — Petra Gallerie, Beverly Hills, California, USA
Dirty Boulevard — Penny Contemporary, Hobart, Tasmania
Pussy Riot — Muk Muk Fine Art, Darwin & Alice Springs, NT2013
Popism: The Andy Warhol Show — 19Karen, Gold Coast, QLD
Forever Young — Jeanie Madsen Gallery, Santa Monica, USA
Deadwood — NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Grindhouse — Porter Contemporary, New York, USA2012
Bloodsport — Buratti Fine Art, Perth, Australia
When Doves Cry — Letham Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Cop Killer — Muk Muk Fine Art & Sprout Creative, Darwin & Alice Springs, NT2011
Romeo Must Die: The Super Villain Series — NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Sin City — Buratti Fine Art, Perth, Australia
Ned Kelly Hero Series — 19Karen, Gold Coast, QLD2010
Spiderbait — 19Karen, Gold Coast, QLD
Electric Bird — Letham Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Johnny Romeo vs David Spencer — United Galleries, Perth, Australia
You’ll Never Take Me Alive! — NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia2009–2007
Candyland — 19Karen, Gold Coast, QLD
Crisis on Infinite Earths — Letham Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
Flight Club — Gilligan Grant Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Dove Kidney Zoo — NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Galaxy Cattle — NG Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Brain on a Machine — China Heights, Sydney, Australia
Converse — Regard Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Live at the Apollo — Newview Gallery, Sydney, Australia
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Collections
Numerous public and private national and international collections.
