How Theo Bardsley’s portraits immortalise the halcyon days of socialising
This is A HOT MINUTE WITH, a quick-fire interview series championing all the rising talent catapulting into fashion, art and music’s fickle stratosphere. From pinch-me moments to bad dates and even worse chat-up lines, think of it as an overindulgent conversation – like the ones you have in sticky club toilets at 4.A.M. Except these guests don’t regret the overshare…
Courtesy of @theobardsley_
NAME THEO BARDSLEY
AGE 23
STAR SIGN Aries
LOCKDOWN LOCATION London, England
Is there a recipe for painting? Is it impulse or organisation? Does the brush move from fearlessness or forethought? For the 23-year-old artist Theo Bardsley, a painted prodigy comes to life through the symmetry of both. And while society darts between productivity and procrastination in these undeterminable times, the London-based artist picked up his brush just shy of a year ago when the first lockdown, a bygone era, took place and got to work.
In his bedroom-turned-studio in East London, where serendipitous sweeps of paint lick the furniture, Bardsley’s portraits are indicative of a bustling life we once knew, anecdotes of a pre-pandemic era, capturing the crowded and energetic movement between bodies. Through maskless strangers sat harmoniously alongside one another, he illustrates the innocent minglings of human bodies laughing and aimlessly sipping, dancing through the smoke of cigarettes while vinyl records swivel in the distance and fresh flowers perch on the table. Donning pin-striped suits and argyle jumpers, adorned with the strokes of his palette while he paints, Bardsley’s busy tableaus immortalise the hubbub of social interaction we crave, inviting you in from the solitude of your living room into the bustling setting where jazz music trickles in the background.
Divulging into the inspirations behind his work, notably the pub and all of its nuances from soggy paperboard coasters to the stale smell of beer spilt on the carpet, Bardsley discusses his relationship with each canvas, the realities of painter's block and his parched appetite for a pub pint. Bottoms up, one day.
Scarlett Baker: How did you get into painting, or rather, how did painting get into you?
Theo Bardsley: I’ve always studied painting and the more I did so I realised style is probably equal to if not more important than skill/technique in many ways and so it's doable.
SB: Was it something you always wanted to do?
TB: I think so, yeah.
SB: Finish the sentence: my time as a History of Art student was…
TB: A necessary evil.
SB: What would you say you specialise in?
TB: Questionable, figurative art.
SB: If lockdown hadn't happened, do you think you’d still have pursued painting at some point?
TB: Most probably, but perhaps not as quickly.
SB: Is there a pre-planned narrative behind each painting or is it a spontaneous/impulsive process?
TB: It depends, there's often an idea or sketch I'm looking at to begin with but the outcome is usually completely different, so a mix of the two.
SB: Where do you look for your references?
TB: Some artists I admire such as Danny Fox and Henry Taylor, books, magazines, my mind, the streets, the pub, anywhere really. My work isn't too complicated and is often based on things I see and my everyday life. I think you often see mundane things in a new light when trying to reimagine them on the canvas.
SB: How would you describe your relationship with social media?
TB: I use it more than I’d like to.
SB: What’s the worst advice you’ve ever been given?
TB: University.
SB: What’s your most prized possession?
TB: My Raf Simons knit, one of the few things I've kept without paint on despite a few close calls.
SB: If you could have a drinking contest with anyone dead or alive, who would it be and why?
TB: Bukowski/Tom Waits, ‘I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy’ is a favourite Waits quote of mine, but I think it's safe to say I wouldn't keep up with them.
SB: If you could get lost anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
TB: Tokyo. I’ve been lost there on a number of occasions and when I say lost, I mean very lost. But it usually ended up being more interesting than something planned. I'd like to move and paint there for a few months. I kind of think you are always lost in that city in some sense of the word.
SB: Talk us through your creative process with each canvas. How long do you spend on each one?
TB: I usually start by painting a block colour, then build from there. I have my reference points pinned up on a wall next to me. Time wise, it depends. I paint aspects of a canvas and then paint over them depending on if they work, so I guess anywhere between a day and 2 weeks. Also, I often have new ideas when I’m in bed which I then worry I will forget so I then have to write them down. But then some I've finished the more I look at them. If they're not yet sold I want to change them.
SB: What’s your set-up when you’re working?
TB: Chet Faker, coffee in the morning, whiskey in the evening.
SB: What’ve you learnt about yourself over the past year?
TB: Solitude isn’t so bad.
SB: What’s a painting you wish you’d done yourself?
TB: Hopper's Nighthawks or Hockney's Mr and Mrs Clarke and Percy, two of my favourites.
SB: Would you say your painting is somewhat journalistic of your life? Do you reference things that you’ve been thinking about or is it purely fiction from your imagination?
TB: Yeah definitely. I think a lot of them are snapshots of lived experiences or maybe things I want to do. I think you can associate my work with a point in your own life, generally speaking. And then I'm also vicariously living through them right now. I guess I wish I was in the scene.
SB: What’s been your biggest painting fail so far?
TB: Yesterday, I spent 3 hours working on a part of a piece, which I was very happy with but proceeded to knock over paint water on it which was ruined and also ended up with a broken phone. Also UPS lost 2 of my paintings. They’re somewhere between London and Cologne if you fancy a treasure hunt.
SB: Waking up first thing in the morning, who are you listening to?
TB: It changes but probably Ryo Fukui/Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
SB: A lot of your paintings are set in a bar, but what’s your go-to drink?
TB: Whiskey sour or a pint of Guinness.
SB: What’s a book that’s changed you as a person?
TB: The Day of the Locust. I don’t think it's explicitly changed me, but it's a great book.
SB: Do you ever get painter’s block? How do you get yourself out of it?
TB: The Dundee Arms.
SB: What’s one of your favourite things about living in London?
TB: The Dundee Arms.
SB: How do you know when a painting is finished?
TB: When I've looked at it enough to strongly dislike it or can't work out if I like it but can't figure out how to rectify the issue.
SB: Finish the sentence. Today I'm going to…
TB: Paint.