After his critically acclaimed solo debut, Hal Bromm Gallery welcomes back Joey Tepedino for his second solo show. Tepedino is a self-taught outsider artist hailing from Pennsylvania. His new show Why does my dog stare at me? will be on view at Hal Bromm Gallery February 1st - March 15th, open Tuesday - Saturday 12 - 5 and by appointment.

In his second show with the gallery, Tepedino continues to toe the line between comedy and unease, employing his characteristic abstract, stream-of-consciousness style to question the seriousness of living in a world which seems to be falling apart around us. To Tepedino, his work is nothing more than material evidence of the way in which he already operates day to day. His work is every bit himself, to understand his art is to understand him. The piece is not the idea, the piece is the artist. Viewing the work makes you question not “what does this piece mean?” but “where did this piece come from?”.

Every available square inch of space on the canvas is covered in nonsensical existential musings, stick figures, or faces staring down the viewer. These faces often become the central motif of his pieces, their almost skeletal, haunting expressions creating a sense of unease that juxtaposes the absurd and humorous elements that surround them. His unique word play, random phrases and thoughts strung together, is exactly that, random. Inspired by a memory from elementary school, Tepedino explains “I remember when I was a little kid... and they were like write a story about whatever and if you can't think of anything just start writing nonsense and I thought that was the coolest thing ever... it just always stuck with me.”

Having no formal training or background in art creates an environment where Tepedino’s work is able to exist in a sphere of its own, not imitating previous art but being inspired by the essence of it. Working in bursts, his stream of consciousness comes alive revealing the humor and reactive nature of his personality. In an interview with Brut Journal, Tepedino stated that “Art is the messy stuff. It’s when you drop a camera, and it accidentally takes a blurry photo of your toe with a bottle of shampoo in the background. It’s when you’re trying so hard to draw a perfect line, but your fingers twitch because you sneeze. It’s the paintings from the beginning that you can’t stand to look at. It’s the ones you throw away. It’s anything you create that didn’t exist before you created it.” For Tepedino, the work of art is in the act of creating it. The paintings themselves are merely a physical record of the artwork that is the artist himself.