My Bad Painting series is an ongoing body of work in a deliberately crude, faux-naïf style. Each painting is small – about the size of a laptop screen – and confronts darker aspects of contemporary life. I pair short media fragments or headlines with disarmingly simple imagery to explore how language and image shape perception in a fractured, fast-moving world. I don’t offer clear answers or moral positions – the ambiguity is deliberate, allowing room for discomfort and reflection.
If awarded the Dover Prize, I would use the bursary to develop a new series of Bad Paintings with Darlington as a focus. I plan to spend time in the area across several short, self-initiated residencies – walking, listening, observing, and researching. I’m not interested in documenting Darlington literally, but in responding to its social and linguistic texture: how people speak, what’s visible or hidden, and what local stories emerge. These elements will feed subtly into the work.
The bursary would cover travel, accommodation, materials, production costs, and temporary workspace if needed. Crucially, it would give me time to think – an essential but often overlooked part of making thoughtful work.
This project would bring both continuity and risk to my practice: continuing the Bad Painting language while testing how it can evolve through a slower, place-based approach. What happens when a series built from global references roots itself in a particular town?
The final series would be exhibited in Darlington – work born of that place, but still speaking to wider themes of distortion, power, and human behaviour that underpin my practice.
My work is visually simple but conceptually layered. This balance makes it accessible to a broad audience, including those who may not usually engage with contemporary art. It creates space for open, sometimes difficult conversations – without being moralistic or obscure.
By spending time in Darlington and letting the place shape the work, I hope to create a series that resonates locally while connecting with wider social and political themes. I’m particularly interested in how language reflects identity and power – what people say, what they don’t, and what narratives surface in everyday life.
Showing the finished work in Darlington would invite the community to see familiar places and stories from new perspectives – curious, critical, but not cynical. It’s about reflection rather than judgement.
This kind of project can raise the town’s cultural profile by positioning Darlington as a place where serious, reflective art is not just shown but made – art that asks questions rather than gives answers. I’d like to contribute to that momentum.
I am a multidisciplinary artist working primarily in painting, but my practice also includes drawing, text, performance, sound, and film. My current focus is on an ongoing painting series called Bad Paintings. These are small works – roughly the size of a laptop screen – painted in a deliberately crude, faux-naïf style. Each painting responds to headlines or phrases taken from the media, combining visual simplicity with difficult or disturbing subject matter. The series reflects on how we consume language and information in a fragmented world, and how communication shapes perception. The Bad Paintings are straightforward in execution but layered in meaning. They don’t take clear positions, instead offering space for reflection, ambiguity, and discomfort. They have become an important part of my practice, allowing me to address political and social realities without didacticism. I have shown this work in solo and group exhibitions in the UK and abroad, including recent selections for The Alpine Fellowship Visual Arts Prize (2024), Anthology at Charlie Smith London (finalist, 2017), and group shows in Switzerland, Germany, and Portugal. Earlier in my career, I presented work at the Venice Biennale (2009) and Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan. My practice has also been supported through projects like The Red Van, a self-initiated 15-month residency travelling across Europe in 2015–16. I live and work in Margate, UK, and maintain an independent studio practice that combines research, making, and public presentation.
I hold a diploma in painting from the Neue Kunstschule Zürich, completed between 1992 and 1995 via a long-distance programme. I also studied art history, drawing, and methodology at the School of Art and Design in Basel, receiving multiple certificates in these areas.
While I don’t hold a conventional university degree, my art education was rigorous and deeply rooted in practice. I dropped in and out of structured courses over the years – not out of disinterest, but because I often found myself working in ways that didn’t easily align with institutional expectations. I’ve always preferred to carve out my own path, which has allowed me to stay true to my artistic vision and values.
This independent approach has supported a long-standing professional career, with exhibitions across Europe and Japan, a number of residencies, and most recently, receiving The Alpine Fellowship Visual Arts Prize in 2024.
Yes. In 2024, I was awarded The Alpine Fellowship Visual Arts Prize. This supported my Bad Painting series and enabled me to spend focused time developing new work.
I was a finalist in Anthology 2017 at Charlie Smith London, which led to increased exposure and opportunities. I was also shortlisted for the 34th Fukuoka-City Art Exhibition in Japan in 2000.
In 2015–16, I completed The Red Van, a self-initiated, nomadic art residency project, funded in part through support from WW Gallery and small-scale project grants. The project involved travelling across Europe in a converted van and producing site-specific work in response to each location.
Not currently, though in the past I initiated and ran a project called The Washroom Talks, which grew out of The Washroom Projects – a self-led initiative based in London. It provided an informal platform for artists and thinkers to present ideas and works in progress. I also co-founded the artist duo Sardine & Tobleroni, a collaboration which generated a series of exhibitions and events across the UK and Europe.
Yes. My work has been reviewed and featured in both print and online platforms. During my collaboration as Sardine & Tobleroni with Portuguese punk musician Victor Torpedo, we received coverage in Time Out London, ArtRabbit, and a number of exhibition-focused online publications, particularly around our exhibitions with WW Gallery.
My solo practice has been profiled on platforms such as Axisweb and featured in regional and independent exhibition reviews. The Red Van, a mobile art residency I initiated, was documented and circulated through art blogs and supporting organisations.
More recently, my work has been featured as a selected artist in Haus-a-rest (Issue 50, 2024): haus-a-rest.com/issue-50-featured-artist, and included in Új Művészet, the leading Hungarian contemporary art journal: ujmuveszet.hu/labor/a-jo-a-rossz-es-a-csuf-muveszet.
While I haven’t yet been reviewed in mainstream international publications, my work continues to gain visibility through curated opportunities and critical engagement within artist-led and independent platforms.
Not currently. I was previously represented by WW Gallery in London, with whom I exhibited regularly between 2008 and 2013, both individually and as part of the artist duo Sardine & Tobleroni. The gallery supported my participation in the Venice Biennale (2009) and other exhibitions across the UK and Europe.
Yes. In 2013, I was awarded a residency at La Maison du Comédien Maria Casarès in Alloue, France, as part of the Odyssée artist residency programme run by ACCR (Association des Centres Culturels de Rencontres) and funded by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.
During the residency, I developed monoloqueArt, a series of filmed monologues with local artists. The project explored the personal stories and creative motivations behind their work. It focused on empathetic encounters and direct engagement, aiming to foster reflection and deeper connection between artist, subject, and viewer.
This experience has had a lasting influence on my practice, particularly in how I approach authorship, intimacy, and the ethics of representation in art.
Between 2016 and 2023, I paused applying for residencies in order to be more present as a father to a young child. With more flexibility now, I am actively seeking opportunities to reconnect with the wider arts community and develop new work in dialogue with others.
Email: jayrechsteiner@hotmail.com
Address: 24 Prices Avenue, MARGATE, Kent, CT9 2NT, GB
Local Authority: Thanet District Council
