JOHNNY ROMEO - Blue Sky Up, 2023
Original artwork by Johnny Romeo
Johnny Romeo, Blue Sky Up, 2023, acrylic and oil on canvas 201cm x
201cm (79 x 79)
Take to the skies in a blaze of glory in Johnny Romeo’s death-defying ode to Gotham City’s greatest caped crusader, Batman. In the painting, the iconic DC anti-hero is a majestic, Technicolour tour-de-force ascending to the heavens as his cape stretches out across the top of the work like the wings of a colossal deity.
Beneath Batman, a triumphant owl is seen soaring through the skies in tandem with the superhero, his enormous wingspan slicing through the air with graceful yet lethal precision. Despite the Dark Knight’s fearsome physicality and formidable pose, it is the owl who is effortlessly lifting the caped crusader up through the clouds and into the ether, earning
him the title of ‘Boss Owl’. The amusing nickname is skilfully manipulated by
Romeo to form the word assemblage ‘Boss Now’, a Poptimistic call to arms to
be like the dynamic bat and owl duo, to lean into the winds of possibility and
fly towards your hopeful future.
This desire to embrace life to the fullest is
cleverly captured through the delightfully upbeat title Blue Sky Up. Building on
the notion of ‘blue sky thinking’, Romeo uses vibrant colours to re-envision
Batman and the owl, two shadowy creatures of the night, as opalescent
beacons of hope breaking through the darkness into the warm glow of dawn.
Gallery Curator & Director
McCarthy Gallery
consult@mccarthygallery.com.au
+61 402 534 703
