Kehinde Wiley restages classical portraits and sculptures, replacing historical white subjects with contemporary subjects of color. His lush, narratively rich canvases draw on textile patterns and the compositional tenets of Old Masters such as Peter Paul Rubens and Jacques-Louis David. Embracing ornate decorative elements, Wiley dignifies his subjects and subverts the whiteness that has long dominated Western art history. The artist received his MFA from Yale in 2001 and has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin, and Milan, among other cities. His work belongs in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Nasher Museum of Art, among many others, and his paintings have sold for six figures on the secondary market. In 2018, Wiley painted Barack Obama’s presidential portrait. In 2019, he launched the Black Rock Residency program in Senegal, which fosters younger artists’ careers and Africa’s broader art ecosystem.

Kehinde Wiley

American

Main

Artist

Printer

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Tomb of Pope Alexander VII Study I