“It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken” is the latest exhibition by Mary and Jiem at Court Tree Collective in Brooklyn. In this new body of work, the self-taught duo from Northern France and Belgium unveils 100 fresh paintings, each forming part of a winding journey through everyday rituals, dreamlike landscapes, and nostalgic yet ebullient memories. Their compositions feel like fragments of lived experience—moments at once intimate and expansive—woven through with anecdotes, humor, and a gentle, bittersweet emotional charge.
True to their creative spirit, Mary and Jiem’s paintings radiate a sense of spontaneity, freshness, and freedom, standing unbound by academic conventions or orthodox approaches to representation. They work with an intuitive hand, allowing color, gesture, and storytelling to lead the way. The result is a visual world that feels deeply personal yet universally resonant, grounded in sincerity and the joy of making.
This exhibition marks the duo’s first solo presentation in the United States, following their well-received group appearance at Court Tree Collective and their participation in the Outsider Art Fair 2025. “It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken” offers viewers a rare chance to enter their world in full—playful, vulnerable, and unmistakably alive.
“Bridging The Gap” brings together a powerhouse roster of artists whose practices span from self-taught visionaries to classically trained contemporaries. United by a shared spirit of experimentation and edge, the exhibition highlights the intersections of tradition and innovation, showing how diverse approaches can spark dialogue and expand what contemporary art can be.
Court Tree Collective is please to announce the debut solo exhibition by Theo Bardsley. Through a mix of observation and memory, Two Sides of Sunday explores the tension between solitude and connection, ritual and randomness. The quiet intimacy and unexpected encounters that define the week’s most reflective day.
Theo Bardsley is a London-based figurative painter whose large-scale portraits blur the boundaries between past and present. While each work begins with reality—often grounded in a direct reference photo—the paintings frequently take on a life of their own. Everyday encounters, whether moments in the pub, intimate exchanges, or fleeting daily interactions, are transformed into scenes charged with narrative depth and layered with art historical resonance.
With his background in Art History, Theo draws on a wide range of influences to build rich textures and meanings across the canvas. His work invites viewers to pause and reflect, uncovering echoes of both personal memory and collective history within his portraits.
PREVIEW THE COLLECTION ︎