In this painting, the main subject is the naked man apart from wearing glasses and he is smoking a hash pipe. He is sitting very relaxed on a white rich couch, with a dark wooden frame. As the composition of this piece is cropped, the rest of the sofa is cut out of the frame including the shirt which is hung on the sofa, on the right-hand side beside the man. The shirt has repeated prints of a white woman looking towards the naked man. This makes the piece complicate its racial and sexual politics further also broaden by its intentionally provoking title. The background has vibrant colours of Moroccan tiles. The rug below which is shown a little, on where the  man stretches his left leg, has a repetitive pattern similar to the tiles above. This makes the piece more framed as a border with the Moroccan Tiles. His brush strokes remind me of Bhupen Khakhar’s style of painting, of how the texture is smooth and the strokes are blended in well. What mainly appealed to me to analyse this piece is the tiles in the background, the patterns are repetitive with minimal colours. They caught my attention as they contrast against the sofa.

The title of this piece is “No Naked Niggahs”, this statement could be a rule at the time and it shows how representations of African American nudes have received, feared and censored. However, the title juxtapositions the painting as the man’s expression shows that he isn’t bothered about breaking the rule, sort of rebel on and breaking stereotypes. He is looking into to the audience as he may know that they might have a discomfort of looking at this piece. This could be a way of expressing pride of his colour. Having researched the artist, Hendrick often paints Black Americans against monochrome interpretations of urban north-eastern American backdrops. He wanted to express the unheard voices of Black Americans in the 60’s and 70’s.

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hendricks-family-jules-nnn-no-naked-niggahs-l02979

https://theartstack.com/artist/barkley-l-hendricks/family-jules-nnn