Ernie Barnes | Artist and athlete, 70
Ernie Barnes, 70, a figurative painter who was a lineman in the 1960s for the San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos, and the former New York Titans professional football teams, has died.
Ernie Barnes, 70, a figurative painter who was a lineman in the 1960s for the San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos, and the former New York Titans professional football teams, has died.
Mr. Barnes died Monday at a hospital of complications from a rare blood disorder, his longtime assistant and friend Luz Rodriguez said. She would not elaborate on the disorder.
His famous Sugar Shack dance scene appeared on the cover of Marvin Gaye's I Want You in 1976 and the closing credits of the television show Good Times.
His paintings are characterized by elongated figures with their eyes closed, and many capture the dynamism of sports. Paul Von Blum, an art history and African American studies professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, called him one of the premier figurative artists of his era.
Mr. Barnes played football at North Carolina College, a historically black school now called North Carolina Central University.
"Throughout my five seasons in the arena of professional football, I remained at the deepest level of my being - an artist," he wrote in his 1995 autobiography, From Pads to Palette.
- AP