Johnny Romeo is an Australian contemporary pop artist. He blends the aesthetics of Warholian print-based Pop with street art’s speed and grit. Using acrylic and oil, he creates works that feel like an unusual on-canvas alchemy. His art heavily references recent and current popular culture. Politicians, celebrities, pinups, and comic book heroes and villains appear as protagonists in his pieces.
Rendered in muted pop hues, Romeo’s images resemble high-vibrancy paint applied thinly over stubborn grey concrete. He often pairs these personalities with witty stenciled wordplay. Some letters are scratched out, creating unexpected double and triple entendres from stale slogans and overused platitudes. Through this graphic style, Romeo both engages with and critiques consumer culture and branding. He reveals the childishness of our ideals and highlights what Western culture has found to replace its heroes.
Romeo lives and works between Sydney and Los Angeles.
Leading Figure in Neo-Expressionist Pop
Johnny Romeo is an internationally acclaimed Australian painter. Considered Australia’s leading Pop artist, he leads the global Neo-Expressionist Pop movement. His work merges rock’n’roll swagger, comic book aesthetics, and street art. GQ Magazine Australia described him as “part punk, part pop.” Romeo’s kitsch pop pieces deliver an explosive sugar rush of technicolour imagery and urban grit, capturing worldwide attention.
Known for his tongue-in-cheek humor and sharp social commentary, Johnny Romeo acts as a world-class culture jammer. He explores how celebrity icons and branded heroes influence our identities today. Romeo approaches art like a television broadcast, transmitting colourful postmodern visions. These works reinterpret the daily flood of images, ads, and memes that saturate our pop-obsessed culture.
Exhibitions, Publications, and Collaborations
Over the past decade, Romeo has held critically acclaimed and sold-out exhibitions across Australia, New Zealand, and the US. In 2018, he exhibited at the Australian Consulate-General in New York. He featured in Brisbane’s Sign of the Times group show alongside street art legends Banksy, Blek le Rat, and Swoon. Recently, he continued his momentum with sold-out shows in Sydney, Perth, Auckland, Canberra, Byron Bay, and the Gold Coast.
His work has appeared in major publications such as Sydney Morning Herald, Vogue, Australian Art Review, Artist Profile, and No Cure Magazine. Television features include ABC’s 7:30 Report, Foxtel’s STVDIO, and the ABC documentary Conquest of Space: Science Fiction & Contemporary Art, hosted by Dr. Andrew Frost.
On the international stage, Romeo shines with celebrated exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Orleans, and Malmö, Sweden. He joined high-profile group shows including Language Art with Pop icon Robert Indiana. In 2017, he exhibited at POP AUSTIN alongside Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Mr. Brainwash. He has also appeared on US national TV and lectured at universities.
Since 2015, Romeo has published three books exploring his art: TV Land (2015), Plastic Fantastic (2017), and Pump Up the Jams (2019).
Legacy and Global Impact
Johnny Romeo stands among the biggest names in Pop art today. Collectors worldwide seek his works, which reside in prominent public and private collections. He has collaborated with notable brands like Gilson Boards, Zeroday Brewing Company, Blink-182, and Lexus Australia.