I first fell in love with art when my father put up a poster of Ernie Barnes’ Skins and Shirts. Tall like my father who is 6’9”, I pictured myself at 6'5" even more elongated, playing basketball with a makeshift hoop - as I often did in grandmother’s neighborhood. In my youthful naiveite, I thought the poster was the original artwork!
Later, I found out Kanye West commissioned Ernie Barnes to capture his near-death experience from a car accident in 2002. Ernie must have been inspired by Kanye’s divinely classic song Through The Wire where lyrics “I must got a angel” were spit literally with his mouth wired shut. The mural A Life Restored pictures angels descending from the heavens and dares to be larger – at least physically – than Kanye himself with 9 foot by 10 foot dimensions.
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