The story goes that African-American painter Barkley L. Hendricks began painting his life-size portraits of people of color after a post-collegiate trip to Europe in the '60s turned up museum after museum packed with nothing but portraits of whitey. With an eye on blaxploitation stereotypes, Pop, and American Realism, the Philadelphia-bred Hendricks made a big splash with his vibrant portraiture, and had his mainstream debut at the Whitney in 1971.
The Studio Museum in Harlem is now the second stop for Hendricks's first career retrospective. Called Birth of the Cool, the exhibit spans almost four decades of work, from his 1968 portrait of an African-American National Guard soldier to his stunning 2002 portrait of Fela Kuti (see above).
Reviewing the show for Time Out, T.J. Carlin writes, "I’m not sure if Barack Obama’s election had anything to do with it, but upon entering Birth of the Cool... I found myself marveling incredulously at the art world’s myopic view of its own recent history, and thinking, not for the first time, that here was a long-overdue show. It’s almost embarrassing that this survey of Hendricks’s work is the first big retrospective for a figurative painter who has clearly influenced—and who in many cases outshines—so many of his peers. Political questions aside, Hendricks needs to be recognized as a pioneer, and Birth of the Cool is an important initial step in that direction."
Birth of the Cool will be at the Studio Museum in Harlem through March 15th. Here's a great video about the exhibit, featuring an interview with Hendricks, who since the '70s has been a professor at Connecticut College.
