Winston Duke's mother wanted him to be a pastor. In one of our first conversations, he told me she was still holding out hope, imitating her thick Tobagonian accent: "Maybe you'll still become a preacha!" He playacts his loving but firm rebuff: "Lady," he laughs, "give it up!" For a certain kind of mother, and a certain kind of upbringing, a job in the church is the highest calling. That Duke's older sister graduated from high school early and eventually became an accomplished doctor didn't really ease the pressure, either.
Duke, thirty-six, is no man of the cloth. But he has a creation myth to share when I arrive at the Shulamit Nazarian gallery in Los Angeles on a hot, sunny Tuesday afternoon. On display are fifteen works from the artist Trenton Doyle Hancock, who dreams up alter egos, villains, cartoonish Klansmen, and Technicolor creatures, conjuring a world from inspiration that's part autobiography and part fantasy.
There's something in these provocative pieces that captivates Duke. He asks the gallerist to pull a small comic-a primer on Hancock's work-for me to look over. The last time he was here, the gallerist replies, Duke received their final copy. So he says he'll educate me himself, opening a book of the artist's materials: "These," Duke points at two ink-and-paint-drawn figures, "are the father and mother of pretty much everything in his world. The father had an affair with the flowers. He-"
The gallerist jumps in: "He masturbated in a field of flowers."
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Winter 2023-Ausgabe von Esquire US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Winter 2023-Ausgabe von Esquire US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
IN JUDGMENT OF DONALD TRUMP
He may never face justice for his most serious offenses. But the everyday prosecutors who've won clear verdicts against him have exposed Trump as the unfit citizen he truly is.
TRAVEL GETS LIT
Book butlers! Curated libraries! Custom cruises! Literary-themed vacations are the hot new trend in tourism.
RED ALERT
Dior’s asymmetrical, angular Chiffre Rouge watch is back and as bold as ever
The Undeniable Joel Kim Booster
The actor, comedian, and writer has hit his career sweet spot: not \"widely reviled on the Internet yet\" but high on the authentic power of making people laugh.
Angling for the Big Fish That Breaks Hearts
People fall in love with Patagonia for many reasons. The breathtaking landscape. The gauchos. The Malbec For me it was the thrill of fly-fishing in a mountain stream near the bottom the world. On my latest trip would I finally hook that elusive trout worthy of my majestic surroundings? By David Coggins
SHOES FOR GETTING WEIRD
The Rick Owens sneakers that remind Christopher Fenimore, the photographer behind the popular Five Fits series on Esquire.com, of a stranger time in his life
MAC DADDY
You need the simple, streamlined mackintosh coat in your spring rotation
Shawn Fain Is Done Making Nice
The combative new president of the United Auto Workers has emerged as the strongest voice in a resurgent labor movement in America
Game Time for Grown-ups
My most meaningful form of self-help right now involves an afternoon of Skee-Ball, Super Shot, Pac-Man, and a double-pepperoni flatbread from the Shareables menu—all punched into my Dave Buster’s Power Card
EVERY THING MEANS SOME THING WHAT IT'S LIKE BEING ROBERT DOWNEY JR.
Last night he came downstairs around bedtime and didn't see either of them.