Cool for School

Barkley L. Hendricks

Barkley L. Hendricks. Credit: Les Todd

Artist Barkley L. Hendricks, best known for his life-size portraits of people of color from the urban Northeast, is spending eight weeks at Duke this fall as a visiting artist-in-residence. "Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool," the first career retrospective of his paintings, was on view at the Nasher Museum of Art earlier this year.

During his time on campus, Hendricks is leading visual-arts classes, critiquing student work, conducting community outreach activities, and participating in public discussions.

In October, for example, Hendricks joined Richard J. Powell, John Spencer Bassett Professor of art and art history, for a discussion on music, visual arts, and fashion as "performance." And, in conjunction with the exhibit "El Greco to Velázquez: Art During the Reign of Philip III," on display at the Nasher Museum of Art through November 9, Hendricks spoke about how he draws inspiration from the Spanish old master Diego Velázquez.

Hendricks, who earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts from Yale University, has been on the faculty of Connecticut College since 1972.

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