Barkley L. Hendricks
Misc. Tyrone [Tyrone Smith], 1976
The painting depicts the slender black male reclining on a white sofa holding a pipe. The backdrop is a brightly coloured patterned wall and a floral rug lies on the floor. His expression shows a casual confidence with his head tilted backward and the positioning of the pipe in his hand. The body language is open with legs partially spread apart and an outstretched arm, making the sexuality of the painting more direct than that of a classical nude like Titan Venus of Urbino, 1538 where the model had crossed legs and placed a hand over her vagina, possibly to indicate shyness and a virgin status which may have been more desirable to the men who viewed her. Although the subject’s homosexuality was not discussed during the sitting, his sexuality confronts the heterosexual male gaze that painted nudes typically served. Interestingly the painting contains a woman on the shirt hung on the sofa. The fact that she is dressed and featured on an item of clothing confronts the need to consistently show a woman nude to objectify her body. In addition, as the woman is a repeated pattern, the artist could be communicating how often the Western culture has painted women and that he is consciously painting a black male to challenge this. This was painted in 1976 following the civil rights era and during the 1970s activism, so a painting of a black male nude, challenges the racial and gender norms of this time. There is a visible tilt between the tiles on the wall and the sofa, possibly showing the artist’s intention to break away from parallels to classical nudes.
Titian
Venus of Urbino, 1538 [oil on canvas]
Bibliography
ARABINDAN-KESSON, A. (2017) The Painting.In Focus: Family Jules: NNN (No Naked Niggahs) 1974 by Barkley L. Hendricks, Tate Research Publication. Availiable from http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/in-focus/family-jules/the-painting [Accessed 22 October 2017]