Barry-O Kart Art Print

"Can you paint Barry-O Kart? Basically Mario Kart only instead of Mario it’s Barry off Eastenders and instead of the other Mario characters it’s everyone off Eastenders and the whole picture has a vaguely tragic aura."

Painted in October 2018

Requested by Joseph Payne

I have painted so much Eastenders stuff over the years despite having never watched more than a few minutes here and there by accident. It is because I am obsessed with the aesthetic. Especially that of the era I came of age. It represents something more than the generally unpleasant experience of watching the show. It is the dourness and discontentment of British life exaggerated into cartoonish excess and played out by characters every bit as iconic and eternal as Bowser, Princess Peach etc.

I was also obsessed with the aesthetic of Mario long before I played my first Mario game. I would see him in a Happy Meal or in the form of an ice lolly and he held a certain magic over me in that way pop-culture icons hold sway over the uninitiated. In many ways, as fun as the games were, the Mario I eventually got to know was a let down by comparison. The same thing happened with Darth Vader.

Fine art print on archival quality 308gsm Hahnemühle Photo Rag