Ernie Barnes 80th anniversary celebration comes to Overtown, with this unique opportunity to purchase Ernie Barne’s original paintings and works on paper. Barnes is best known for his unique style of elongation, energy, and movement. In his prolific body of work, Barnes chronicled his personal experiences with football, music, dance, love, sports, education, church, and the South. Widely-known as the real painter of the artwork in the groundbreaking African-American sitcom Good Times, Barnes’ style has been widely imitated. It is best exemplified by his iconic Sugar Shack dance scene that appeared on a Marvin Gaye album cover and in the closing credits of Good Times. After five seasons as a professional football player, he retired at age 27 to pursue art. A consistent and distinct feature in Barnes’ work is the closed eyes of his subjects. “I began to see, observe, how blind we are to one another’s humanity. Blinded by a lot of things that have, perhaps, initiated feelings in that light. We don’t see into the depths of our interconnection. The gifts, the strength and potential within other human beings. We stop at color quite often. So one of the things we have to be aware of is who we are in order to have the capacity to like others. But when you cannot visualize the offerings of another human being you’re obviously not looking at the human being with open eyes….We look upon each other and decide immediately: This person is black, so he must be… This person lives in poverty, so he must be…”

Presented by:
Art Fair in conjunction with Ernie Barnes Foundation featuring paintings and works on paper

Exhibition Hours:
December 6 – 8, 2018 • 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
December 9, 2018 • 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.
December 10, 2018 • 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.