Description of work: The oil painting that I plan to exhibit at ArtPrize, known as “Neighborhood Reflections”, depicts a barbershop in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. This particular shop has been an institution in this south side neighborhood decades before President Barack Obama became a customer when he lived nearby. It maintained generations of loyal clientele, including former mayor Harold Washington and Muhammad Ali, and serviced visiting celebrities. After I read about the shop, I visited it on a late December day to photograph it. The shop was busy with patrons of all ages receiving haircuts from their favorite barbers. I took a few surreptitious photos of the business in order to capture the shop’s activity as naturally as possible. As many Chicagoans know, barbershops serve as an important place in the community. The painting also reveals the shop’s neighborhood as the window reflections show the surrounding streetscape. |