1974
graphite
paper
From the collection of Museum of Modern Art
Dominant colour
Untitled is a 1974 graphite by Barkley L. Hendricks, held at Museum of Modern Art.
This looks like an X-ray of a human chest and shoulders, but it’s actually a drawing. The image is black, white, and gray, with faint ribs and a spine showing through. Around it, there are rows of letters, numbers, and symbols—like a typewriter’s keys—scattered in a messy grid. The artist added a tiny red dot in the corner, almost like a mistake. The edges of the paper have handwritten notes and a small ruler-like stamp, making it feel like a sketch someone might have doodled in a notebook. Next, check out Barkley L. Hendricks to see how he mixed real and fake in his work.
Barkley L. Hendricks (April 16, 1945 – April 18, 2017) was a contemporary American painter who made pioneering contributions to Black portraiture and conceptualism. While he worked in a variety of media and genres…
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