Barkley Hendricks does not look or talk like any other artist. He exudes the kind of cool one would expect from the giants of jazz and masters of funk of the 1970s, the very people he channels in his art.
Hendricks is at Duke this fall as an artist-in-residence, working with visual arts professors and students during his two-month stay on campus, which ends Nov. 24. He chose to spend a large portion of his sabbatical from his post as professor of art studio at Connecticut College here because of the "warm reception" and warm climate-both literally and figuratively.
"I met a lot of hip and nice people," he said.
As one of the most innovative and underrated American artists of the '60s and '70s, his art "could not be easily defined-not as a realist, not as a pop artist, not as a black artist," says Wendy Livingston, manager of marketing and communications at the Nasher.
For this reason, he was flown under the radar until recently, when the museum featured Birth of the Cool, Hendricks' first major exhibit.
A man of many artistic talents, Hendricks possesses qualities that makes his residency a great asset to Duke, Livingston said. He is accessible to students through lecture series and campus appearances, including working with visual arts classes. In the last major event of his residency. Hendricks will speak as part of a panel on his photographic work Nov. 18 at the Nasher.
Freshman Brett Schroeder, who attended a talk given by Hendricks in Bell Tower Residence Hall, enjoyed meeting the artist in a low-key environment.
"His exhibit is called Birth of the Cool, and that's basically the definition of Barkley Hendricks," Schroeder said.
Part of Hendricks' charm is his understated sense of humor. After a New York Times art critic called Hendricks "beautifully endowed" as a painter, he responded by painting a nude self-portrait that he named "Beautifully Endowed."
But counter to the stereotypes of artists who are seen as pretentious or lofty, Hendricks is not too cool for school, Livingston said.
"He's the best person I've ever worked with at this museum," she said. "He's a happy person, and it's fun working with a happy person! He's humble and yet he's very tuned in to what's going on now. He's always thinking, always has his camera going... he's always an artist."
The Nasher's collection boasts some of Hendricks' most compelling life-sized oil portraits, as well as other pieces in mediums such as metal foil.
He specializes in portraits of defiantly stylish black men and women, often irreverently painted in the tradition of classical religious icons. At an Oct. 16 talk at the Nasher, Hendricks spoke about the influence of European masters, including some displayed in the current El Greco to Velázquez exhibit, on his work.
Hendricks doesn't consider his modern representations of urban figures fundamentally different from regal portraits commissioned by patrons--he just "saw different people" than they did, he said.
His bold color schemes are striking and dimensional, avoiding the flatness inherent to paintings.
"I would like to think of myself as an illusionist," Hendricks said. "I would like you to see a texture and feel it."
The strong individualism in his paintings is what caught the eye of Trevor Schoonmaker, curator of contemporary art at the Nasher. When he approached Hendricks to offer him an exhibition, Hendricks was surprised that Schoonmaker had even heard of him.
The two bonded over their appreciation for music and art, two aspects that are inseparable in Hendricks' work: the African rhythms of Fela Kuti, the social messages of Bob Marley and the funk of Miles Davis are all present in his paintings.
Ever the multimedia artist, sometimes Hendricks doesn't need to convey musical imagery through his painting and gets right to the source; apart from his visual forms, he plays trumpet, clarinet and saxophone.
Barkley Hendricks' residency ends Nov. 24. His next public appearance is "Photography, Documentary, and the Making of Art," with Associate Professor Tom Rankin and Professor Alex Harris of the Center for Documentary Studies Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Nasher Museum of Art.
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