Bushwick Boys Are Good on Paper

“It’s a pretty amazing place,” says fashion designer and illustrator Richard Haines of Bushwick. “It’s vibrant, and the guys are incredible.”

Haines’s young male neighbors play a vital role in his latest exhibition of personal drawings, which debuts September 10 at Daniel Cooney Fine Art gallery. Since moving to the Brooklyn ’hood six years ago, Haines has drawn many of the area’s hip residents, due to their “uncalculated” fashion sense and, of course, good looks. The exhibition will utilize the gallery’s front and back rooms; the back will house a “Versailles-inspired” immersive installation, and the front will showcase framed works of his street style and studio sketches alongside nude portraits of Bushwick dudes.

“When people come to my studio, the conversations are very genuine,” Haines explains. “The nudity is about the intimacy. And [the subjects are] really beautiful. They’re kind of at their peak. It’s a way of honoring that.”