Bobby Berardi (he/him) was born in 1968 and grew up in Mahopac, NY. In 1988, the University of the Arts sophomore heard a song called “Desiree” on WPST (Trenton, NJ) by a local band. Inspired, Berardi grabbed his sketchpad, ran out into a hurricane, and there on a desolate North Philly corner began sketching a new character that would become his life’s work. He moved to Brooklyn in early 1992 and was part of the first-wave Williamsburg art scene. He worked odd jobs in SoHo galleries and showed scratchboard paintings of his character at the Salmagundi Club. In 1999, Berardi began No Rodeo, a comic strip developed by United Media that explored Desiree Chavez’s preteen years.

In 2007, Berardi started teaching Art at a South Bronx high school, a position he still holds. He returned to fine art in 2015, fingerpainting relatively large-scale oil paintings still focused on Desiree, but decidedly less narrative. Berardi is a founding member of The Gun Hill Six, a diverse collective of emerging Bronx artists known for funky DIY events. The Desiree series is unique for being the only fine art series to focus on the mythos of a single fictional character. A musical and a children’s book are in the works.

BOBBY’S PLAYLIST:

Rammellzee & K-Rob – Beat Bop
Brand Nubian – Feels So Good
A Tribe Called Quest – Public Enemy
Skee-Lo – I Wish
Eminem – 8 Mile
Kanye West – Runaway
Schoolboy Q – Collard Greens
Kendrick Lamar – For Free
Nicki Minaj – Megatron
Nujabes – Luv(sic) pt. 3
A$AP Rocky feat. Skrillex – Wild for the Night
Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment – Sunday Candy
Doechii – Denial Is a River