Hey Bartender I & II

Large, playful, graphic—and filled with the atmosphere of a fun night out.

There is something unforgettable about the energy of a lively evening out—the hum of
conversation, the clink of glasses, the rhythm of music, and the way fragments of stories float through the air. Hey Bartender I & II grew from that spirit. These paintings are large in scale and playful in feeling, capturing the visual buzz of a night where everything feels a little brighter, looser, and more alive.

The compositions are built from shapes that feel both abstract and familiar. As the eye moves through the paintings, forms begin to suggest the kinds of things that might appear in a bartender’s world: a martini glass, flying bow ties, drifting notes, drum-like circles, and lively jazz marks that seem to swing across the surface. Some shapes feel like overheard conversations made visible—quick, graphic, and full of personality.

There is a wonderful tension in these works between clarity and spontaneity. At first glance, they read as very clean and graphic, with crisp black and white contrasts and strong, simplified forms. But up close, they remain painterly. The brushwork is present. The surface has gesture and movement. The paintings do not feel mechanical; they feel lived in, improvised, and full of hand-made character.

Like any memorable exchange across a bar, the imagery opens into many subjects at once. Some objects hint at relationships—people meeting, parting, leaning in, telling stories. Others bring in music, with shapes that echo jazz notes, drums, and the playful syncopation of a late-night set. And somewhere in the mix is even the suggestion of a golf game, another one of those topics that somehow finds its way into conversation when people settle in and start talking.

Hey Bartender I & II is ultimately about social energy translated into form. It is a playful visual language built from symbols, gestures, and suggestions—never literal, but always evocative. Clean and graphic yet distinctly painterly, the pair holds the spirit of music, conversation, style, and storytelling in a way that feels both sophisticated and fun.