In a recent painting "Bulls in a Bathhouse," (Figure 1), Neal, responding to an April 16, 2003 Oprah Winfrey television show and an August 2003 cover article in the New York Times Magazine entitled “Double Lives on the Down Low,” and the number of recent articles being penned on the “double” often dishonest lives of black men who choose to straddle the line between sexually straight and gay worlds- merges symbolically the idea of the traditional “Bull fight” (more specifically the bulls role in this spectacle), with the notion of the bath house (as a meeting place for having sex in secret). Set in an architectural space that references the Romanesque-style of late nineteenth and early twentieth century American bathhouses, "Bulls in a Bathhouse" compositionally revolves around the slow dance, interaction and confrontation of four bulls, who seem at once in motion yet frozen in a space and time. Mimicking, no doubt, the interaction between black men who fall into the category of being on the "Down Low" or "DL" but also critiquing the rigid structure of masculinity, determinates that possibly contributes to the development of this sort of underground, undercover lifestyle and behavior. They are leading secret lives, which begs the question, why is this still necessary at this point in our history? Well, according to the New York Times Magazine article and the Oprah Winfrey show, most of these men consider themselves to be heterosexual, and live straight lives in their professional and personal worlds, and many of the men who engage in this behavior are married to women or have girlfriends.

Figure 2, Bulls in a Bathhouse

Neal does not position himself as artist in judgment, however, but instead, looks at these men as -often unwilling- “ participants in a process of self-discovery; in which they are searching through these clandestine sexual relationships for reflections of self; for idealized archetypes of black masculinity to which they aspire; with whom to connect intimately; in search of an understanding and healing for their souls,” Neal explains. These situations allow these men to possibly step out of the hyper-masculine heterosexual scenarios that society has designated for them and into this world of sexual gratification with other usually anonymous black men. The bulls in Neal’s painting are likened to these black men: strong, masculine, sexual figures in search of each others approval, but nonetheless in a secret and hidden environment. Neal suggests that such behavior cannot be understood through a neat scientific, psychological or sociological study, nor through one or two media treatments (which he indicates in a tiny ribbon of text in the painting that speaks about God and representation); and he believes that there are as many different approaches to this struggle as there are people living it -- some less socially acceptable than others.

Using bulls as a metaphor represents something new in his work, as he has never painted animals before. Neal became inspired with the idea of using bulls in this way after seeing a documentary on Pablo Picasso, his ego, and his reputation. Picasso's fascination with bulls started when he attended bullfights in Spain as a child. The bull makes the ultimate sacrifice in the end with its life. Picasso related to the bull as both aggressor and victim. To Neal, these bulls are symbolic of black men as they try to navigate a viable existence in a hostile American society, again as both aggressor and victim.

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