Ernie Barnes - Artiste

May 5, 2004 8:18 AM

You might know Ernie Barnes from Sports Illustrated, or from a Marvin Gaye album cover. He has a powerful 9/11 painting. This past February he was named “America’s Best Painter of Sports” by the Board of Trustees of the American Sport Art Museum.
posted by ashbury (11 comments total)

I've seen his work all over the place - it's nice to finally put a name to the art.
posted by ashbury at 8:19 AM on May 5, 2004

~You cannot fool me, those paintings are by J.J. Evans from TV's "Good Times"~
posted by thirteen at 8:29 AM on May 5, 2004

DYN-O-MITE!
posted by djseafood at 8:33 AM on May 5, 2004

"Sugar Shack" (2nd link) reminds me of the average MeFi meetup.
posted by 111 at 8:51 AM on May 5, 2004

This has long been one of my favourite album covers (Curtis Mayfield). Nice to see more of his stuff.
posted by transient at 8:51 AM on May 5, 2004

But 111, I thought you thought we were all pasty & white? Heh.

This guy is brilliant, and his work is everywhere once you start looking for it. I'm glad he's getting some acclaim.
posted by chicobangs at 9:17 AM on May 5, 2004

chicobangs, I see you have not been invited to one of the exclusive MeFi gatherings (the ones with free caviar and champagne, Scandinavian supermodels and live music by Prince, Missy Elliott, Andre3000 and James Brown). Perhaps someday you will qualify to attend one of our A-list parties, my friend.
Now that I think about it, that painting looks like Peter Bagge's drawings of people dancing, doesn't it?
posted by 111 at 9:45 AM on May 5, 2004

Sweet post. Thanks ashbury. Does anyone know if they have at least one of his originals at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow? Their official page isn't working right now, but I strongly recall that they do.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:40 AM on May 5, 2004

111? Ohhhh, that's where I know you.

I was a towel boy at one of your recent soirees. (Good tipper, that Mista 3000. A little messy with the hot oil, but the burns are healing nicely, and like I said, a fine tipper indeed.)
posted by chicobangs at 11:14 AM on May 5, 2004

Paintings: awesome.

JJ jokes: huh?
posted by scarabic at 12:05 PM on May 5, 2004

JJ jokes: huh?

On the show, J.J was a painter. The actor playing J.J. was not a painter, so they used the paintings of Ernie Barnes to lie to us.
posted by thirteen at 12:35 PM on May 5, 2004