What makes an oeuvre? What makes it any good? Self-organisation, not waiting for an institution to give you an opportunity, and coming together: or so Teun Verheij (or so Lennon & McCartney?). Weaving through Leipzig some 10 years ago now, studying art, drumming in a punk band, and taking advantage of the city’s spirit, Teun is finding that sweet spot between his crush on Rembrandt and the desire to disrupt the current plague of “Zombie formalism” in art. Bringing this sentiment along with him to his current base, Berlin, Teun and I meet for a chat in his studio in Adlershof to talk about his recent solo show, Instagram for artists, and community building, among other things. What initially struck me about Teun was his demeanour: relaxed, flexible and open while equally high-strung and meticulous – a quality he shares with his paintings. He strikes a match, swiftly, raising the match to the cigarette dangling from his mouth, and begins to dish out on professors who pissed him off. In the same breath, he reflects on vulnerable moments of rejection and the self-reckoning he had to undergo to come out the other side as a reflected human being. The scribbles, horns and dismembered pieces of furniture that float in his compositions are intriguing, and dare I say: good. Despite the interview being our first IRL meeting, I decide to wear him down with banter, only to realise he’s beating me to the punch.

TV: I moved to Leipzig 10 years ago to study there. It's a bit of a long story.

I dropped out of art school back in 2012. After a short stay in Malta, I came back and found out I couldn't continue studying due to some bureaucratic reasons, so I just started looking for universities I could study at for free. I applied just about everywhere, and HGB Leipzig accepted me, so I moved there. I submitted a really bad portfolio, but I got lucky because there was a cow in one of the drawings in my portfolio, and it turned out to be the replacement teacher’s favourite animal. She loved cows. She was all about cows, and so she really liked this drawing. That goes to show how volatile these things are, right?

Teun was drawn to Berlin, particularly the UdK, even while living in Leipzig. He would take the train up to Berlin on the weekends, attempting to snag a meeting with a professor there or find a way to submit his portfolio. We discuss the fickle nature of these things, the Catholic guilt associated with hard work and diligence, and how the world might not come to you, despite all of your hard work.

TV: Do you remember that one club at the intersection of Karl-Marx-Allee and Prenzlauer Allee? They had a ball pit, you know, like, for children. I met this girl there, Lisa, who studied at the UdK at the time that I was trying to get in, and I had a meeting planned with a painter who taught there. The class representative told me, “We’ve made you an appointment, so we can see your portfolio.” The night before, I went to this club, and I saw Lisa. I'm like, “Oh, hey, I'm excited to show my portfolio tomorrow.” We're both in this ball pit, and she's like “... Oh yeah, no, by the way, we’re going on a class excursion tomorrow, also wird’s leider nichts.” That was gut-wrenching. I travelled to Berlin for this. I almost camped in the hallways of the UdK just to try and talk to people. That was my strategy: Show up…