Each profile in the grid features a single abstracted image of a Black male figure seated in a barber’s chair, dressed with a Sanek neck strip, and draped in a protective cape. In the barber’s chair, every man is king, every man is icon. Every man is the G.O.A.T. and the Playoffs VIP. This flexible template is designed to unify each profile into a shared framework that emphasizes the potency of numbers, with much respect for the eloquence of the Self.

‘Booker’ (2020 )

Acrylic, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

The works in this series engage the cultural significance of the Black barber shop in African-American life as the source material for my creative process and the language of my conceptual thesis. The grid format of the finished art piece is based on the iconic hair style posters found on the walls of these establishments, that simultaneously evokes athletic team rosters, a graduating class, a Zoom meeting, a Hip Hop concert line-up, a police mugshots database.

Producing each barbershop client on paper starts with determining whether the profile faces left or right —like the sides of a coin, then sketching out the volume of the hairstyle. Applying layers of ink lines and washes of thinned paint, I begin to see and shape the face, the eyes, noses and mouths into focus. I’m moving paper around. The process becomes equally improvisational and measured.

My technique is a mix of loose expressionist stylings in wet media (acrylics, ink, ballpoint pens, opaque markers) and more carefully arranged compositions of collage materials collected from fine art books, street fashion magazines and photos saved from the Internet on my iPhone. The assortment of profile features I’m looking for are printed out on colored paper, hand-trimmed and strategically sealed into position.

‘Matisse’ Appointments Preferred (2020)

acrylic, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” vellum.

The overall vibe of The Barbershop Series is a shoutout to the “cool” of The Black Panthers, Marvel Comics superheroes, the polished marble busts of Roman generals and the urbane elegance of 70’s Black haircare ads in the pages of Ebony magazine. The mood of the art synthesizes the jazzy cool expressed in blue notes by Miles, and in living color by Romare Bearden — with the stuntin’ audacity of Hip-Hop impresarios and Homeboys on the block.

‘Hakeem’ (2020)

Acrylic, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

The “double-face” employed as a graphic device in these drawings is informed by traditional ceremonial masks of indigenous African societies like the Lega masks crafted by the Bwami in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Kpelie mask of the Senufo people in West Africa was used at funeral rituals, harvest festivals and initiation ceremonies for boys, adolescents, and adults. The double-faced twin masks used for village entertainment by the Baule of Ivory Coast are theatrical, formally decorative; focused more on abstract concepts of beauty, heroic moral virtue and the creative invention of the artist over ritual significance.

‘Game Boi’ (2020)

acrylic paints, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

Aesthetic sources for The Barbershop series include Ife-Benin bronze heads of royalty created by Yoruba artisans between the 13th-15th centuries in what is now southern Nigeria. The Yoruba regard the head “ori” as the seat of divine power of the Supreme Being. In a person’s life, the head is the life source and vital instrument determining destiny and personality. The Yoruba highlighted the head as the crown of the body and the place where the soul dwells. The human head is the focus of a person’s identity, communication and perception. It is also the marker for how one is perceived and judged. This philosophy of the head as the most elaborately formed part of Yoruba figure sculpture is reflected stylistically in this collection of collage drawings

‘Lucius’ (2020)

Acrylic, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

‘Cedric Low Post’ (2020)

Acrylic, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

‘Dr. Kamasi The Grio’ (2020)

Acrylic, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

‘Lincoln’ (2020)

Acrylic, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

‘Dirty Red’ (2020)

Acrylic paints, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

“…So you begin to wonder if the world had seen Philando Castile or Terence Crutcher or Jordan Edwards as beautiful, perhaps they might be with us today. We are desperate to be rendered visible. We want to be acknowledged by others, assured and held tight. In the heritage of American horrors, black men and boys have paid a particular price for this desire to be seen — and all for what? To be granted some semblance of selfhood, of humanity.

‘Gurley’ (2020)

Acrylic paints, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

“It is rarely spoken, but I think men enter the barbershop seeking a form of beauty, be it in their physical appearance or their inner self. Maybe it’s clarity with regard to a personal issue, or the ease of fellowship the space provides. Maybe after a burdensome week, you are in need of release among your tribe. These are intimacies camouflaged in a simple request: Look at me.”

‘Lucky Daye’ (2020) Acrylic paints, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

‘“My barber philosophy is helping people look and feel better about themselves inside and out every time they leave my chair. When I cut, blend, and shave I listen to what you're looking for, what you do in your everyday life, and what part of you that you want to present to your community. I clean you up, style your hair with your favorite product and send you out into the world.”

Goldie’ (2020) Acrylic paints, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

“Maybe you came in for a low fade. Or a flat top. Or shape up. Or a #6 (a skin fade with a part). Maybe you recently lost your job or have a job interview in the coming days. Maybe grief has found its way into your life and the passing of a family member requires that you look your best for their home going. Maybe your arrival was unplanned, and you lucked upon the shop on your way somewhere else. Maybe the congregation of men outside, thundering with a kind of bountiful, brotherly glee, caught your ear. It does not matter now because you have arrived — a paradise found, a sanctuary unearthed.”

‘The Valedictorian’ (2020) Acrylic paints, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

“We’re also like psychologists. The barbershop is a place you come to unwind and build self-esteem. You got brothers coming in with high self-esteem and we maintain that. Or you got brothers coming in with low self-esteem and we hook them up with their appearance and give them pep talks and stuff like that, and make it a place for them to come back and express themselves. We help to raise each other right and move forward.” —Edgar, Levels Barbershop, NYC

‘Delroy’ (2020) Acrylic paints, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

“It is not uncommon to enter the shop with a terrible, Fraggle Rock shape up and a serious bout of depression and leave with a cut that bumps you up from a ‘hard five’ to a ‘decent seven,’ a smile, a new outlook on life, actual life insurance, and bootlegged copies of Straight Outta Compton and Booty Talk 72.” —Damon Young, Very Smart Brothas

‘Tariq’ (2020) Acrylic paints, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” 100% cotton vellum.

“The shop pulsed with a warm energy that evening. A chorus of men who spoke to each other with furious excitement were consumed by ESPN and talk of playoff basketball. Like each time before, Deron began in the same manner: he draped a thin red cape over my body and asked, “What we doing?” I told him “the usual.” He clicked on his clippers and I closed my eyes. And then I thought to myself: The body breaks. But it can be remade.”

—Jason Parham ‘The power and politics of the black barbershop’, FADER magazine Oct.2017

‘Quincy’ (2020) Acrylic paints, inks, collage, Molotow markers on 8”x10” paper.

When studying Barbershop Phrenology (No.3), one of several elements to consider is the color relationships between the backgrounds of each profile and how they interact, contrast and compliment each other. The positioning of the profiles (facing left, right or centered) is also an important calculation in creating an overall visual balance. In this piece the profiles positioned at 12, 3, 6 and nine o’clock are centered and facing outward, forming a diamond shape between them, that leads the viewer’s eye to see visual contrasts, connections and diagonals lines that hint at a chess board.

Barbershop Phrenology No. 3 (Jokers & Kings) 2020 Framed mixed-media drawings, acrylics, inks and collage, 39”w x 48”h.

I typically don’t make art to match the sofa. But when this new pink chair delivered this week, the stars aligned.

‘Barbershop Phrenology #3’ Framed mixed-media drawings, acrylics, inks and collage, 39”w x 48”h.