This painting shows a man of colour sitting on a white sofa, naked with only glasses on, holding a pipe (or cigarette). A shirt printed with a woman’s face hangs on the top of the sofa, the carpet is a clear blue colour with a pattern going across and there is very vibrantly patterned wallpaper. At first one might just see the naked man on the sofa, but when one studies the image closely it may have a deeper message it tries to convey.

His facial expression shows that he is aware that the viewer is looking at him or at least he is not ashamed of the viewer’s looking at him even though he is not covering himself up. It may suggest that he is presenting himself in this manner on purpose to maybe provoke the viewer. The position he is sitting in also looks rather relaxed as well as him possibly smoking which conveys that he is not bothered and comfortable. The title stating “no naked niggahs” suggests that the figure was presented this way to suggest that he is breaking a rule and that he probably isn’t concerned about breaking it.

Family Jules: NNN (No naked niggahs) by Barkley L. Hendricks, 1974, Oil on Linen, 72 x 66 inches. http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/in-focus/family-jules/the-painting