Kehinde Wiley, an American artist renowned for his photorealistic-style portraits, has been in the limelight of different exhibitions in New York City, Paris, and San Francisco all at the same time. His renowned work was Barack Obama’s Presidential portrait, which portrays the former President seated amidst flowers from significant places in his life. His present work is gaining attention for its emphasis on anti-Black violence. Wiley is working on numerous significant projects, including a show focused on black heads of state due to be held in Paris in September.
Wiley’s efforts in his latest exhibition, “Femme piquée par un serpent” (Woman bitten by a snake), which is currently being showcased at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, delve into how blacks have been treated worldwide throughout history. The exhibition, according to Abram Jackson, the museum’s director of interpretation, has a “universality to the ways in which Black people have been mistreated and the violence that has happened to us from colonialism forward,” regardless of country or region.
One of Wiley’s latest achievements is the creation of eight previously unseen paintings based on the portraits of 15th-century Belgian painter Hans Memling. The paintings replicate the poses, but with an African-American subject. The antique-looking wooden frames enhance the visibility of Wiley’s brush strokes and intricate details. The Memling series is distinct from Wiley’s usual works because the names of the models in the paintings are written on the side panels. The entire “The World Stage” series will also be presented by Wiley to galleries and museums worldwide for the first time.
The “Trickster” exhibition, which is on display at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, is set to run until October. Meanwhile, another Wiley exhibition is showing in New York City at the Sean Kelly gallery until 17 June. The exhibition’s latest focus on circus performers and carnival street dancers in Cuba, is a fresh addition to Wiley’s famous works.
Wiley’s exceptional portraiture challenges and reorients art-historical narratives, aiming to awaken complex issues around black and brown bodies’ complicated socio-political histories. His works disrupt tropes of portraiture to challenge and break the status quo. He works in sculpture, painting, and video and has had solo exhibitions in the US and internationally. His works are held in the collections of over 40 public institutions worldwide and have been showcased in several successful exhibitions, including “Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic,” which was opened at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2015.
Wiley’s effort in art has been is outstanding, and he has been recognized through various awards, including a Medal of Arts by the US Department of State for his commitment to cultural diplomacy through visual arts. He continues to inspire and challenge the art industry with his exceptional exhibitions and photorealistic portraits of young black men and women, which act as his voice for anti-Black violence and emphasize the need for social change.
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