CR 018: Artist TB Ward on Going Back to Basics

The artist-musician discusses his upcoming gallery show, his creative process, and his return to old-school techniques.

TB Ward

English-born, New York-based artist TB Ward has worked in a variety of mediums over the course of his career. After spending much of the ’90s as the frontman for the British indie band Elevate, he moved to the U.S. and rediscovered his love for visual art. Over the past two decades, his abstract paintings and mixed-media installations have been exhibited in numerous galleries. But in recent years, he’s found himself drawn to the classic art form of portraiture, and in October will exhibit seven oil paintings at a solo show at Upstream Gallery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

Titled Professional Human, the show, which runs from October 3^rd through 27^th, is Ward’s “reaction to the idea of a ‘personal brand’ and the fictional world people create online,” according to the artist’s statement. To enhance the gallery experience, he’s put together an aural accompaniment of original music and songs, which he recorded using a 4-track cassette recorder. Combined, the music and portraits ha…