New York Amsterdam News
By Karen Juanita Carrillo
The new book “Barkley L. Hendricks: Piles of Inspiration Everywhere,” a collaboration between fine arts photographer David Katzenstein and the artist’s wife, Susan Hendricks, offers readers a detailed look inside the home that inspired the artist’s naturalistic paintings.
The book features large, double-page photos of the rooms in the New London, Connecticut, home where Barkley both had his studio and lived for decades with his wife.
Two weeks after Barkley’s death on April 18, 2017, Susan allowed Katzenstein to begin photographing the house. The two say they didn’t want to begin packing up or making changes that would in any way alter what it was like for Barkley when he lived there.
Katzenstein’s photographs are visually stunning: as you turn the pages, several of Hendricks’s rooms are laid out before you. They are filled with bold and diverse colors: posters, books, musical instruments, paintbrushes, notebooks, vinyl records, clothes, and various other objects are in areas that clearly fit within the artist’s mental filing system.
The book includes quotes from what Barkley used to say, are meant to show his perspective and understanding of the rooms the book displays:
“I am part of a very fascinating drama which I record in the mediums of my desire.” “There is an inner vision.”