BRIDGEPORT — Steve Badauskas, the around-the-clock barkeep at Bernice's Tavern, opens his first solo art show Friday.
"The Longest Night That Ever Was," an exhibition of pen and ink drawings and paintings, runs from 7-10 p.m. at Lacuna Artist Lofts, 2150 S. Canalport Ave.
"The Longest Night That Ever Was" is named for one of the darkest times in Badauskas’ life, a time he hesitates to talk about.
“To see all of the art, you have to go into my brain, into a dark place," Badauskas said in a statement, "and it’s inside of you, it’s inside of me, it's in all of us."
Badauskas is a Bridgeport native who began drawing in 1989. His work is surreal and impressionistic.
"I try to draw faces but I never draw a full face," Badauskas said. "I draw a lot of noses and eyes becoming other faces with other images hidden inside the larger ones. It’s like a Monet. From far away they look like other pictures, and up close — once you dig into the details and see the pieces that make up the whole — the picture looks entirely different.”
His drawings are fueled by days with no sleep. The art that best serves the barkeep's insomniac lifestyle.
“I draw more than paint because it’s inherently more mobile," Badauskas said. "I can take a sketchbook with me wherever I land. I have insomnia and most nights, I’ll stay awake working on sketches for hours and hours."
"The Longest Night That Ever Was" ends at 10 p.m. Oct. 21.
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