context

To be Black in America is to always view the world around us as if looking through doors or through windows. Opportunity or isolation. With windows, we see other worlds, sometimes as a reflection, sometimes in unveiled truth.

Background is dominated by a dramatic, angular corner view of Radio City Music Hall shooting 10 stories into the sky before disappearing beyond the edge of the canvas. Perspective as though viewer is standing on adjacent street corner near building, looking up the length of skyscraper. View begins in lower portion of painting with infamous RADIO CITY Music Hall marquee wrapping around building close to street below, and illuminated in yellow, red, and blue neon. Wall to the left of Music Hall's corner is painted in thickly washed, bright streaks of red-orange, while the wall right of corner is bright lime green and partially shadowed. Superimposed on top of this background and covering almost the entire right half of the painting is the large, ghost-like portrait of a man gazing slightly down at viewer. He has a thick but neat black mustache, short brown hair, and smooth brown skin which seems to reflect the city lights behind. Though he is not smiling, his eyes are kind and mirthful. While his face is opaque, his torso becomes translucent and a black bow tie and white dress shirt are barely visible atop the brightly painted marquee behind. To the left of portrait a more defined mirror image of just the dress shirt and bow tie is superimposed over the left corner of the Music Hall marquee, and floats shoulder to shoulder with the man.

glass

48” X 36”
Oil on Wood Panel

string beans

48” X 36”
Oil on Wood Panel
SOLD

Portrait of a young woman with high cheek bones, short hair cut closely to her head, and smooth ebony skin highlighted in rose, gold and light blue. Her ruby red lips are relaxed and slightly parted over white teeth as she gazes languidly to her left past the viewer. She is wearing long earrings and a shiny, broad-collared leather jacket electrified in lavender and sky blue highlights. The background is expressive, excited streaks and dashes of goldenrod, white, forest green, blue, coral and dark grey. In the upper right corner of the painting a neon red MOTEL sign ringed in a thin, yellow neon light is depicted.

simply her

36” X 48”
Oil on Wood Panel

Full body portrait of a slender, shirtless man with a chiseled torso on a black and dark gray background. He is barefoot, wearing only dark trousers, and sits high atop a stool, facing viewer but slightly elevated, head thrown back on a strong, taught neck, eyes shut, and face and shoulders illuminated by an unknown light source from above. He has a thick, dark, goatee and a matching mane of bushy, wild hair.

live streaming

48" X 36”
Oil on Wood Panel

Abstract, urban landscape in tight one point linear perspective radiating from viewpoint in center of painting. A broad, black, two lane, city street lined in sky blue with the bars of a purple and sky blue crosswalk crossing it the foreground, recedes out of sight towards the painting's center. The dark underside of a bridge is perfectly mirrored above the street, creating a tunnel-like effect except for the open, golden area on the right of the canvas depicting the blurry, dark silhouette of a city skyline. A red and yellow traffic signal hovers at the center and red and golden orbs float above the street implying vehicle lights.

vessels

48” X 36” X 2”
Oil on Wood Panel

Full body portrait of a young boy with short hair cropped close to his head and dark sunglasses covering much of his face. His lips are pursed tightly in a hardened expression as he looks squarely at the viewer. His hands clasp two indecipherable items at his hips, in a stance resembling a Western cowboy reaching for his gun holster before a dual. He is wearing a yellow-green chef-style top, baggy dark trousers, and a brown belt with a round, silver Western-style buckle. The boy stands in an empty parking lot in front of a closed yellow and blue storefront with a red awning. A giant billboard or mural depicting just the upper half of a human face rises above the store front behind the boy and covers the entire upper half of the painting.

writing on the wall

48" X 36” X 2”
Oil on Wood Panel