‘a painting collective Called FRIENDS’ is an artist collaborative where two friends, Ian and Josh, explore the alchemy of friendship through experimental painting. What started as a spontaneous and organic evening blossomed into an ongoing ceremony of friendship, creativity, vulnerability, and togetherness. Every time Josh and Ian paint, they engage in a ritualistic process involving eating burritos, drinking coffee, exploring Home Depot, smoking cigarettes, looking for sticks, and of course, painting - often, ending with them hanging the work up to dry, tired and wide-eyed. They laugh, they cry, and they connect. From the raw use of unconventional materials, hockey sticks and bible pages, to their experimentation with processes, burning, cutting, smearing on canvases, Ian and Josh invite viewers to step into their world and share in their togetherness. Watch as Ian and Josh paint for world peace at www.youtube.com/@called.FRIENDS
Below is the First 10, these are the first ten paintings we did as a collective. They are listed in the order they where completed. They were all painted 2024 - 2025.
