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ADVANCING THE FIGURATIVE TRADITION
In 1995, Ernie Barnes published his autobiographical book entitled "From Pads to Palette," an engaging account of his dual careers as a professional football player and as a visual artist. The book chronicles his unique path in endeavors that most people instinctively imagine as entirely unrelated. But Barnes has indeed made the move from a successful offensive lineman from the early through the mid-60s to one of the most accomplished contemporary figurative painters in America. His depictions of athletic events and scenes from daily life add enormous luster to the long tradition of American genre painting. His specific portrayals of African American themes have made him one of the most renowned and visible African American artists of the 20th century. His commitment, moreover, to such themes as the promotion of racial and ethnic harmony, the value of education and learning, and the dignity of ordinary people ensures his reputation as a leading humanist artist of our times.
A resident of Los Angeles for three decades, this figurative master has overcome powerful barriers in achieving his artistic goals. Growing up in the segregated South, he regularly encountered the daily racial barriers and indignities of the Jim Crow era. As a young undergraduate at all Black North Carolina College, he was fortunate enough to study under teachers who inspired and encouraged him to pursue his personal artistic vision. Equally important, they provided him with background about his personal artistic roots in the long and majestic tradition of African American visual art.
Following his football career, Barnes came to Los Angeles seeking to fulfill his lifelong aspiration to become a professional artist. Fortunate to have valuable contacts and patrons in professional football, he soon produced and exhibited some of the early paintings that would propel him to his present stature.
From the late 60s through the 90s, he has achieved deservedly high visibility for the paintings that both incorporate and transcend his personal athletic interests and involvements. Over the years, Barnes has drawn on a wide variety of personal experiences to create artworks in his distinctly imaginative style.
His wide recognition in the art world is unusual because he is a traditional painter who has deliberately avoided the dazzling array of modern and postmodern styles so fleetingly fashionable in art circles. His work is properly characterized as neo-mannerist, based on the style popular in Italian painting between the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Like the efforts of Tintoretto and the later Michelangelo, Barnes’ paintings and drawings reveal elongated figures and carefully conceived and precisely executed distortions of color and perspective. Above all, his efforts highlight a dramatic sense of movement, emerging from his lifelong athletic participation and observation.
He refers to his style as “the tension generated by conflict and paradox,” reflecting his unique transformation of 16th century mannerism into a visual form effectively expressing the complex and ambiguous realities of the late 20th century. The artist is thoroughly dedicated to presenting the human figure as the central focus of his work. Despite the current lack of respect for figurative artists among some mainstream critics, scholars and collectors, Barnes engages viewers of all ages, backgrounds, and ethnic and racial identities.
For him, art must address genuine human issues in order to respond to his audiences’ deepest needs and feelings. His resolute integrity in defending and advancing the figurative tradition constitutes his most notable artistic contribution of all. A major thrust of his work over the years involves a celebration of the positive elements of African American life and expressive culture.
Many of his paintings showcase the spirit of Black life, a joy and togetherness that have enabled millions to construct
lives of quality and worth despite serious personal and institutional hardships. A typical example is the "Sugar Shack," a genre painting that has reached millions through its exposure on television and on the cover of a Marvin Gaye album. A model of energy and vitality, the work reveals a vigorous fusion of music and dance, underscoring the dynamism
of the entire hall. The frenetic activity encourages a release of the accumulated tensions of the week or month. Signs informing patrons of a live Marvin Gaye appearance and other events indicate a well-established locale to escape the
pressures of daily life. Despite the overall exuberance, Barnes also includes a detail suggesting the deeper sorrows of millions of African
Americans. The sitting figure, at the bottom right of the composition, appears headed to an alcohol-assisted despair. Not
even the loud music and joyful dancing can alleviate his pain. The artist invites viewers to reflect seriously about the
fundamental causes of his distress and about the triumphs and tragedies of Black history and life in America.
His 1996 painting entitled "A Dream Deferred" adds another
powerful dimension to this theme. Richly detailed, this dramatic work shows the discouraging gap between
American ideals and American realities. Although Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. eloquently expressed his dream at the 1963 March on Washington, the
sad truth is that too many millions of African Americans are no closer to justice and equality at the threshold of
the 21st century than they were when Dr. King made his memorable address. Barnes pointedly depicts the two a Black men behind bars in the lower part of the work, signifying society’s
shortsighted decision to build prisons rather than invest in education and other institutions that provide hope and
opportunity. Hundreds of thousands of Black men and women languish behind bars, tragically prevented from making the
contributions they could in a more just and humane society. For many, especially African American men, hopelessness and despair have replaced the idealism of the relatively recent past. Critical but still hopeful, "A Dream Deferred" points to the direction for progress and improvement.
The central figure is a strong African American father, lifting and helping his son to a life of honor and
accomplishment. It is a striking vision of love, a force that can overcome any adversity, including the father’s own
prior omissions and deficiencies. Above them are two intertwined sets of Black and White hands, reflecting the spirit of brotherhood
and cooperation that dominated the Civil Rights Movement. The work invites viewers to think seriously about the changes in social policy and human consciousness
required to make the dream a reality and transform and cooperation that Dr. King and his millions of supporters
properly demanded.
Throughout his career, Barnes has also featured people of all races and backgrounds in his work. "Sam and Sidney," for example, pays artistic homage to the historical legacy and continuing vitality of the
Jewish community. Barnes speaks with passion of the five years he lived in the Los Angeles Jewish community, where he learned of the
Jews’ enduring spiritual sense and their remarkable ability to overcome hardships and persecution. The painting features two men engrossed in conversation, reflecting the verbal tradition informing thousands
of years of Jewish history. The men appear to be arguing, with the man in the foreground making his point in animated fashion while his friend seemingly resists with equal intensity. Still, whatever their specific disagreement, this relationship is extremely close, signified by the linking of their
arms. In portraying their mutual respect, Barnes reveals his own regard for the long historical unity of the Jewish people,
an expression of his fundamental sympathy for people of all cultural and ethnic origins.
Barnes’ sports themed paintings similarly reveal the humanistic artistic vision that informs his entire work. His early football works have enabled audiences to understand the intensity of gridiron combat and the sense of camaraderie that unites teams and sustains their common endeavors. His five commissioned works from the 1984 Olympics when he was appointed the Official Artist, promote the ideals of human tolerance and understanding.
In 1988, Barnes produced an ambitious mural that used athletic metaphors to offer broader observations about the human spirit and condition. "The Metamorphosis of Rocky," commissioned by actor Sylvester Stallone, presents the story of the four Rocky movies, culminating in the centerpiece an image of an heroic bronze statue in front of the classical Philadelphia Art Museum. In front, Barnes places various supporting imagery, including an artist, a Cub Scout holding a book, young basketball players, and men and women admiring the mythical figure of Rocky and his rise from poor immigrant roots to the heavyweight championship of the world. For the artist, the story of Rocky Balboa represents the possibilities for all people to overcome hardships and accomplish their goals, however lofty or modest they may be. Beyond its appealing athletic surface, the work affirms more basically the power of people of all backgrounds to transcend such obstacles as racism, xenophobia, economic deprivation and many others. Like the mythical Rocky Balboa himself, all people can, with hard work, personal determination, community and institutional support, achieve autonomy and find personal fulfillment in their own lives.
Barnes used another mural in 1993 to underscore his basic optimism about the human condition. "Meeting The Challenge," commissioned by Robert E. Brennan for Seton Hall University, extends the artist’s career-long dedication to narrative detail. Visually dynamic and complex, the painting requires careful attention; indeed, viewers who return to the work several times inevitably derive the most durable satisfaction from their experiences. At its most basic level, the work provides an engaging history of the university itself, highlighting both the origins and the guiding educational vision of this major Catholic institution of higher learning. Following in the tradition of the great Mexican muralists of the early 20th century, Barnes uses visual detail to promote a memorable glimpse of the past. Like all his artwork, "Meeting The Challenge" successfully achieves a deeper communicative objective.
Beyond the inspiring story of Seton Hall University itself, the mural once again reflects Barnes’ vigorous commitment to educational opportunity and progress. And like many of his other paintings, this effort promotes his unyielding vision of racial and ethnic harmony. People of all backgrounds are shown celebrating the past, participating in the past, participating in the present, and anticipating the future with hope and confidence. Since his retirement from professional football, Barnes has managed to accomplish his childhood dream of becoming a successful visual artist. Deriving immense personal satisfaction from his work, he has also inspired his viewers to reflect seriously about some of the most compelling issues and problems of our times. He often speaks of his special commitment to use his art to influence young people, furthering the tradition of mentorship that served him so well in his earlier years. Barnes’ unique ability to employ the human figure to address the central themes of human life has placed him in the forefront of contemporary visual art. Unquestionably, those who follow in the same figurative tradition will owe him a debt of gratitude for decades to come.