Art career
Henderson's painting practice has evolved significantly over his more than fifty-year career. [5]
Early figurative work (1965–1985)
| The Scream | |
|---|---|
 The Scream (1966) | |
| Artist | Mike Henderson |
| Year | 1966 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas, diptych |
During his initial decades in San Francisco, Henderson created figurative paintings and films that engaged with themes of social protest, racial violence, and Black identity. His work from this period is noted for its directness and exploration of Afrofuturism and surrealism within the context of Black life and struggle influenced by the activist spirit of the Bay Area in the 1960s and 1970s. [6] Henderson's The Scream (1966), a monumental 10-foot x 12-foot painting depicting three disembodied and conjoined skull-like heads screaming with wide-open, blood-red mouths was born out of his own struggles with the racial injustice in San Francisco to, [7] in his own words, "release a scream that was inside of me". [5] A significant portion of Henderson's output from these first two decades was damaged in a studio fire in 1985. [8]
Shift to abstraction
Following the studio fire and his earlier figurative period, Henderson increasingly turned towards abstraction. [9] His later paintings are often large-scale and characterized by highly gestural brushwork, complex textures achieved through layering and scraping, and a focus on color, space, and improvisation. This abstract style demonstrates connections to postwar Abstract Expressionism while incorporating Henderson's personal experiences and musicality. A notable series from the early 1990s, known as "The Black Paintings," explored a darker palette of blacks, grays, and deep blues, aiming to "express sound within the space of the canvas." [10]
Film career
Alongside his painting, Henderson produced a body of experimental short films, primarily between the late 1960s and the mid-1980s. [11] Often shot on 16mm film, these works mirrored the political and social concerns of his early paintings, sometimes employing humor and surrealism. [12] [13] His films have been screened at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Pacific Film Archive, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and various film festivals. [1] [3] [4]
Music
Henderson is also an accomplished blues guitarist, dubbed as "the Blues Professor" by John Lee Hooker, [14] and has performed alongside Albert King, Albert Collins, Bo Diddley, James Cotton, and Lightnin’ Hopkins. His interest in music, particularly blues and improvisation, is often cited as an influence on his abstract painting practice and has released three albums on the Pathway label. [15]
Teaching career
Henderson served as a professor of art at the University of California, Davis for over four decades, joining the faculty around 1970, [4] teaching alongside Wayne Thiebaud, Robert Arneson, Roy De Forest, Manuel Neri and William T. Wiley. He retired in 2012 and holds the title of professor emeritus. [16]