Listen Up! 1980

Ernie Barnes made this oil painting, Listen Up!, with loose brushstrokes and a palette of warm browns and yellows against a dark background. I can imagine Ernie Barnes stepping back, squinting, layering the paint, then stepping back again. His painting feels like a jazz riff, bouncing between foreground and background. The performer on stage, lit by a single bulb, is a focus, but the figures at the tables command attention. Look at the textures – the way the light glints off the surfaces. Is the paint thick and gloppy, or thin and washy? The characters are lively, drinking, smoking, arguing, laughing. He captures the spirit of a time and place. Barnes has always been interested in the dynamism of figures in motion. This work also reminds me of Jacob Lawrence’s paintings of everyday life, in its bustling vision of community and culture. It's like a visual jam session, each artist riffing off the others, their styles in constant dialogue across time.