Image: Homecoming. © Ernie Barnes Family Trust
Display Dates: June 29, 2018–March 3, 2019
About the Exhibit
This exhibition showcased many unpublished Ernie Barnes original paintings, as well as artifacts from his life. Barnes was born and raised in Durham. After five seasons as a professional football player, he retired at age 27 to pursue art.
In his prolific 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's 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. This painting, The Sugar Shack, was inspired by a dance at the Durham Armory.
Barnes is best known for his unique style of elongation, energy, and movement. Affectionately nicknamed “Big Rembrandt” by his teammates, he is the first professional American athlete to become a noted painter.
Although I never got a chance to meet Ernie in person, I was so honored to be able to work on this exhibit–because now I feel like I do know him. He was a remarkable human being who defied odds and became a renowned artist.
Katie Edwards, exhibit curator
Ernie Barnes: An American Story
“Ernie Barnes and the Merger of Art and Athlete,” a conversation with Luz Rodriguez, trustee of the Ernie Barnes Estate
Approximate run time: 29 minutes.
Bits of History Podcast
Biography
Born July 15, 1938, Barnes grew up in Durham. Shy, sensitive, and bullied throughout childhood, he sought refuge in his sketchbooks and eventually transformed his body and attitude through exercise and discipline. In high school, Barnes excelled as an athlete. By his senior year at Durham’s Hillside High School, he became the captain of the football team and state champion in the shot put.
Barnes graduated high school in 1956 with 26 athletic scholarship offers. Segregation, however, prevented him from considering nearby Duke University or the University of North Carolina. He attended the all–Black North Carolina College at Durham (formerly North Carolina College for Negroes; now North Carolina Central University), where he majored in art on a full athletic scholarship.
Barnes was selected in the 1960 National Football League draft by the Baltimore Colts. After five seasons as an offensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos, he retired in 1966 at age 28 to devote himself to art. Influences of his life and schooling at Hillside High School and North Carolina Central University can be seen in his distinctive creative work.
He settled in Los Angeles, where he died of cancer at age 70 on April 27, 2009.