The new book “Barkley L. Hendricks: Piles of Inspiration Everywhere,” a collaboration between fine arts photographer David Katzenstein and the artist’s wife, Susan Hendricks, offers readers a detailed look inside the home that inspired the artist’s naturalistic paintings.
The book features large, double-page photos of the rooms in the New London, Connecticut, home where Barkley both had his studio and lived for decades with his wife.
“Over the span of the 35 years that we lived together in the house, no one coming to visit ever went into Barkley’s studio on the second floor,” his wife, Susan, explains in the introduction to the book: “No curators, and not even our gallerist. Certainly I could be there, I lived here with him, but the studio was his space, and I respected that. It was where he created, and it wasn’t, in his mind, open to questions or exploration.”
Photos from “Barkley L. Hendricks: Piles of Inspiration Everywhere.” (David Katzenstein photos)
Two weeks after Barkley’s death on April 18, 2017, Susan allowed Katzenstein to begin photographing the house. The two say they didn’t want to begin packing up or making changes that would in any way alter what it was like for Barkley when he lived there.
Katzenstein’s photographs are visually stunning: as you turn the pages, several of Hendricks’s rooms are laid out before you. They are filled with bold and diverse colors: posters, books, musical instruments, paintbrushes, notebooks, vinyl records, clothes, and various other objects are in areas that clearly fit within the artist’s mental filing system.
Looking in from the outside, Barkley was just this side of being a hoarder, but as an artist, his collection of these varied pieces took on a different meaning. The book includes quotes from what Barkley used to say, are meant to show his perspective and understanding of the rooms the book displays:
“I feel I’m into everything. More arms than I have, all reaching. Energy! Energy! Energy!”
“I am part of a very fascinating drama which I record in the mediums of my desire.” “There is an inner vision.”
“It will be beautiful and terrifying at the same time.”