The Janitor Who Paints by Palmer Hayden

This painting is based on the life of Palmer's friend and artist Cloyd Boykin. "It's sort of a protest painting. I painted it because no one called Boykin the artist. They called him the janitor." (http://www.okcmoa.com/wp-content/uploads/Harlem-Docent-Educator-Resource-Guide.pdf)

The tittle of the painting pulled me in and made me want to find out more about it. The story behind it intrigued me, and made me think of the movie Brother to Brother, and how Richard Bruce Nugent wasn't seen as a poet, but as a gay African American male. Both Nugent and Boykin were extremely talented at the art form they did, but neither of them were taken seriously by the majority of whites because they were black, and expressed reality through their work.

When I look at this painting I see the anger of racism through the baby's eyes. He looks like he is frustrated by being held, and cramped in the small room. The baby could be a symbol for the black community, and how they are frustrated by not being able to live freely.  I also see fighting against oppression because even though Boykin isn't taken seriously as an artist, he still is painting.

I really like this piece and the message that it gives me as an artist. Even though people tell you that you're not good enough, and that you wont make it in life, you still have to try. At least that's what I get when I look at it, there's probably many different ways to view it.