“[T]he first retrospective for one of the most influential African American artists, Barkley L. Hendricks. . . . Highly recommended.” — K.N. Pinder, Choice
“Barkley L. Hendricks is one of the unsung heroes of American art. A gifted figurative painter, Hendricks’ work has profoundly impacted artists of various eras, but did not penetrate the public consciousness until recently. . . . Despite the erasure of black artists from the master narratives of art history, Hendricks continues to leave an indelible imprint on the visual arts. Ultimately, however, Barkley Hendricks’ splendid bodies reassert the necessity for representations of difference to have persistent visibility—especially in our supposedly post-racial art culture.” — Derek Conrad Murray, International Review of African American Art,
“Hendricks needs to be recognized as a pioneer, and ‘Birth of the Cool’ is an important initial step in that direction. . . . In an era when the image Hendricks was looking for—an African-American figure with deep historical gravitas—has finally come to the forefront of national and international news (and has been reinforced in the public’s mind with appearances on every television and computer screen), it’s worth appreciating not only Hendricks’s skill as a painter, but also his fruitful investigation into his own artistic and personal identity.” — T. J. Carlin, Time Out New York
“The people Hendricks portrays look … well, cool. They look like they are just pausing in their busy, interesting lives to look at us. So it's not that we, the viewers, are looking at static, flat pictures of make-believe people, but more that we ourselves are under examination.” — Jean Tamarin, Chronicle of Higher Education