A Bartender Walks into a Bar (2020)
Ongoing series of performances, paintings, text-based works, and objects
“You could call the bartender an alter ego, or a pair of mythical shoes that anyone can put on, impossible to fill. I’m disgusted that most artists need day (or night) jobs to survive, but there’s something to the immediate gratification of taking an order and serving a drink. I don’t know what I’ll do if that is gone.”
In 2012 David Lachapelle held what (at the time) was the second biggest vernissage for a solo show ever: the opening of Burning Beauty at Fotografiska in Stockholm. They hired more than 10 sets of identical twins, and 5 more cast members as performers hosting the evening, including an 18 year old Neil Bhat as “Elevator boy”, assigned to stand in the elevator with a cart of vodka, giving shots to anyone who stepped inside.
Eight years later Neil’s own exhibition in a tiny side room of Konsthall C opened: A Bartender walks into a bar (2020). Exhibiting a performance titled Imperfect replication: Sashimi (2020) and a painting titled Bartender with Milk bottle, a self portrait adorned with pearl teeth, holding a milk bottle. The performance adressed the absurdity of striving toward perfection with an imperfect tool; a wooden spoon with a crab-mold carved into it’s face. For 45 minutes clay was packed into the mold and identical raw clay crabs were produced, compared to a hand made original, and then discarded. This action was done in front of Bartender with Milk bottle, which hung suspended above an ornate mirror resting on the floor with the same dimensions as the painting.
This was the launching point for a series of nightlife and alcohol themed artworks that are ongoing to this day. Piss pot (2021), a ceramic drinking game where the object of the game was to spill as little as possible, and drink without enjoyment, was soon followed by Fyllehund (2021) screen prints and a performance in The Opening Night (2022) by Iris Smeds.
In 2023 two performances were exhibited as part of the A Bartender Walks Into a Bar series. On friday the 13th of January 2023 A Bartender never misses a shot was performed in the cellar of the Royal institute of art.
”15/1/2023
A few days late. Friday the 13th I did my performance “a bartender never misses a shot” in the school pub at 21:15. I won’t write about my nerves. I felt ok. At 21:00 I got changed and went down through the outside door. I walked up to the table and circled it twice, feeling the fabric. Someone called out to me, I ignored them. I went and got the wine glass which I placed on the table, and I cut the foil from the bottle (Garzon Tannat Reserva 2020) and started putting in my pulltex corkscrew.
At this point everyone quieted.
I removed the cork with a pop and smelled it. Dark cherry notes. I poured the bottle into the glass (it fit the whole bottle) and it was dark purple. I walked to the side and put on my hat. Then I put 12 horse shoes on my left arm one at a time. Then I put the 13th horse show in my left hand and pulled my bandana up over my mouth and nose. I swiveled and strode out legs wide like a gunslinger. The audience laughed. I began leaning, and adjusting the horseshoe in my right hand, preparing for the throw. I noticed someone standing down range and I tilted my head to get him out of the way. He hurried out of the way; more laughter. I shook my head and went back to aiming. My hand barely left my hip and the horseshoe arced through the air, and made a hole on the back of the glass, red wine spilled out.
I saw the spilled red wine, and though the glass still stood I dropped the remaining 12 horseshoes and walked out before applause could begin. I guess a bartender really never misses a shot.”
The performance was documented with 36 photographs on film and two videos on cell phone cameras. One of the photos was used as a basis for the work Full moon bandit (2023), a cut-out of an archetypal cowboy exhibited at Mint ABF.
Most recently performed was A Bartender finishes his Shift for Beef Cookie Blowout on the 6th of October 2023, an evening of performances exhibited in the cellar of the Royal institute of art. A bartender appears in formal wear and whiteface, with a pistol bottle filled with tequila- a cross between a ghostly host, possessed by the spirit of the nighttime, and a code switching service industry worker trying to match the whiteness of his role. The bartender made an appearance as a snubbed artist working at Gallery Beau travail at the opening of the Karin Larsson Wanted for Arson by Karl Holmqvist (where he claimed to have had his part in the performance cut by the organizer last minute).
