THAT’S PAINTER-TAINMENT

Ever wondered what you’d get if you crossed a pair of expert painters with two storytelling comrades? You’d get Ravinia District residents and longtime friends Joe Bednarski and Phil Gayter in an art gallery before a rapt and excited audience, creating paintings while exchanging gentle gibes and inviting attendees to participate in their delightful journey of a show, “Oil & Water”—which makes its Lake Forest debut at Gorton Center on April 25.

Cleveland native Bednarski, an introvert, is an oil painter. Gayter, an extrovert who grew up in Manchester, England, is the water (acrylics) guy.

And, so, the duel begins.

Their first show, staged last September at AIR Studio and Gallery in Glencoe, was a hit. So was their second performance at the same venue in November, when each man created a work of art in their chosen medium while engaging about 50 onlookers.

“I Googled A.I., hoping to find the best insults an oil painter could deliver to an acrylic painter,” says Bednarski, who, according to his partner in sublime humor, is as droll as they come. “Forty-eight hours before our first show, I remember thinking, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ I didn’t think anybody would enjoy us. Then I thought, ‘How can I get out of this?’”

But he stayed in, much to the delight of Gayter and scores of others, including a teen who made oil man Bednarski shed water (teardrops) after one of the shows.

“This high school student came up to me and told me, ‘You changed my life tonight,’” Bednarski recalls. “He went on to tell me that he loved art but had been intimated by the art he’d seen in museums. To hear how our little show impacted him as an artist moved me.

“Our approach to art, through our presentation, appealed to him.”

Bednarski’s wife, Laura, attended the first show and practically had to ask Joe to identify himself afterward.

“Laura,” Joe says, “had never seen that side of me.”

The title “Oil & Water” isn’t just a clever one; it’s also an ironic one because Bednarski and Gayter are pretty similar. Both are products of a working class upbringing, both were influenced artistically by a parent, both became ad men, and both specialize in figurative painting.

“They say some of the best artists come from hardship,” says Gayter, who studied at Manchester Metropolitan University and lived in Lake Bluff for 32 years, with a move to Kansas City briefly interrupting his run as a North Shore resident. “My mom, Pauline, got me interested in art, but I thought it would be wise to study communications.

“I was a starving kid. I didn’t want to be a starving artist.”

Bednarski’s father, a painter also named Joe, entered his son’s pencil drawing of a guitar in a contest. At the time, young Joe was a grade schooler and future Cleveland Institute of Art enrollee. The drawing took first place.

Bednarski worked in the music industry for 10-12 years before entering the field of advertising. He first met Gayter over coffee more than 20 years ago. The connections ran deep.

Both men are quick to praise Beth Peterson, the executive director of AIR Studio and Gallery, for jumping at the chance to showcase the “Penn & Teller of painting” (an actual comment from an “Oil & Water” show attendee) for North Shore art and storytelling lovers.

“Beth,” Bednarski says, “has such a wonderful vision for unifying galleries in the area. Galleries these days have to be open to trying new things, to presenting different shows like ours, for survival.”

Peterson found Bednarski and Gayter’s relationship hilarious the moment she met them. But their show is as much about drawing oohs and aahs over their art as it is about eliciting steady rounds of wows via their funloving improvisation, insights, and arty banter.

“Their passion for painting really comes through during the shows,” says Peterson.

“It’s crazy, this all started as a simple joke between friends … and now look at us, a live painting show featuring storytelling and improv,” Gayter says. “And there was Joe, shaking his head and saying, ‘No way.’ It’s also been exciting, combining art and entertainment like we have, with art presented at a human level with a backdrop of humor.”

“The aim of our show is to illuminate painting in a truly unique and fun way. We want people to come away with an appreciation for the journey of painting, no matter the medium.”

Ultimately, oil and water do mix.

For more information about the “Oil & Water” show at Gorton Center, visit gortoncenter.org/event/oil-water.