Sunday, March 1, 2009

born cool

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the barkley l hendricks painting exhibit, the birth of cool
totally and unexpectedly blew my mind.
the sheer skill in this work is stunning.
hendricks rendering of fabrics, especially denim
are completely lifelike. working with limited palette,
his iconic portraits each hold and grant the subject
a confident swagger. he references antiquity back 
to byzantine religious icons and old masters like
jan van eyck and greek mythology. 
on view until march 15
144 west 125th street
from top to bottom
'sweet thang (lynn jenkins)' 1975-76
'bahsir (robert gowens)' 1975
'what's going on?'
'brown sugar vine' 1970
'steve' 1976
'sir charles, alias willie harris' 1972
'north philly niggah (william corbett)' 1975
'lawdy mama' 1969

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