Who's Next (#whosnext)

The title of this painting came from a post by the model on social media. At the time, and still today, young black males are racially profiled by law enforcement. I have heard so many stories from my models (who are all educated and hold solid professional careers) being stopped by police in Chicago and asked what they are doing in the neighborhood (they live there). There was a rash of shootings of unarmed black men at the time this was painted and my model posted online #whosnext. I was strongly affected by this and felt this image captures the feeling well. The striped shirt represents the unequal incarceration of blacks in this country, many for minimal offenses. The red coloring in the background represents the flashing police or ambulance lights. The pose shows the agony of losing yet another friend or family member to gunfire or violence. I have painted other works in this series and plan to continue doing so.