“Why don’t you do me? I’ll be your first gap-toothed guard,” she laughed, exposing her radiant gap-toothed smile. I told her I would, and I showed her the snapshots I took of her. “Oh, you’re sneaky,” she laughed. I showed her the guard paintings on my website. She said she’d keep an eye out for when I add hers.
Snapshot of Brittany in Gallery 214
Unlabeled, 2023
Acrylic and marker on canvas board
11”x14”
I asked her if there was a painting in the gallery she particularly liked. She pointed at a portrait of a man sitting at a table, all alone—Benny Andrews’ Farmer (1965). “He looks lonely.” She felt like keeping him company.
Even though I titled my rendition of her “Unlabeled, 2023,” I got to know this guard more than any of the other guards I have painted til now. I enjoyed my brief exchange with Brittany.
Back home, I studied the various snapshots I had taken. I was struck by her standing in front of a painting she could almost be part of, Jonas Wood’s “Helen’s Room” (2017), and next to Dindga’s McCannon’s “Woman #1” (1975-77), another woman of color. Making the guard subject of my painting, I painted Brittany focused on reading her schedule for the day, with “Helen’s Room” in the background, while connecting her with “Woman #1”—increasing the number of subjects in my view finder from two to three.
www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.219376.html
www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.225619.html
www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.225615.html