On The Dock | Ira Watkins

Leaving Waco, Texas in 1957, Watkins made his way to the city and for the last six decades has been painting vibrant depictions of Black San Francisco that sit at the intersection of memory and imagination. Watkins’ works are both eminently relatable and mythic in scale, larger-than-life and steeped in story and symbolism. The title image, “On the Dock” depicts a worker on the docks at Bethlehem Steel, a heroic and historic figure emblematic of the Black workers who shaped industry in the city’s Bayview district. “Archie the Barber,” a painting of a Black barber shop is yet another story: “If you’ve got three hours,” says Watkins, “go get your haircut with Archie.”