Barkley L. Hendricks - “My Mechanical Sketchbook”
ART FORUM
Barkley L. Hendricks - “My Mechanical Sketchbook”
ROSE ART MUSEUM
415 South Street
Brandeis University
February 10–July 24, 2022
It is not surprising that Barkley L. Hendricks (1945–2017) excelled at photography, or that his pictures were often source material for his flamboyant and intimate paintings of Black life in the years after the civil rights movement. Yet the relationship between the two media across his magnificent and beloved oeuvre has only recently been discussed, sparked by the posthumous discovery of some of his previously unknown photographic work. Hendricks’s exhibition at the Rose Art Museum, “My Mechanical Sketchbook”—a reference to the artist’s name for his camera—presents a focused assortment of photographs (including Polaroids), paintings, and works on paper created between 1966 and 2016.
‘Made Everyone Feel Like a Photographer’s Model’—See Images Here
Artnet News
A New Book on Barkley Hendricks Shows How the Artist ‘Made Everyone Feel Like a Photographer’s Model’—See Images Here
The book is part of a five-volume series dedicated to the artist's life and career.
The late artist Barkley L. Hendricks was best known as a painter, often capturing the swagger and gravitas of everyday Black people. He set full-length portraits of figures against monochromatic backgrounds so that both the person’s expression and their clothing and accessories were on full display. The paintings are as much a documentation of changing sartorial trends as they are snapshots of people.
What You Didn’t Know About Barkley L. Hendricks
NEW YORK TIMES
The less celebrated side of the artist’s career, his photographs, receive deserved attention in a new book.
Barkley L. Hendricks portrayed Black people who exude attitude. “In the Black community, you stand out because you declare your own sense of identity beyond your environment,” said his longtime friend Richard J. Watson, artist-in-residence at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. “When you see yourself shown as a standout — and not because you haven’t eaten in three days and you’re a symbol of poverty — that gives you respectability.”
Basketball and Barkley Hendricks: The Lesser Known Work of an Influential Artist
NEW YORK TIMES
A digital exhibition at Jack Shainman Gallery in New York includes several never-before-seen works by Hendricks relating to his love of the sport.
Breaking the rules always came easy to Barkley L. Hendricks. One of the most influential artists and photographers of the 20th century, he was best known for his portrayal of everyday black life in the United States. He often eschewed convention and experimented with shapes and space in his works unlike anyone had before him.