Background Information
Born on February 28, 1977, Kehinde Wiley was raised by his mother in Los Angeles, California. His father, who was studying in California to be an architect, went back to Nigeria before he was born. Wiley’s mother was left to raise him and his twin brother, Taiwo, as well as four other children in a later marriage. When Wiley was 11, his mother enrolled him into a free city-funded arts program where he was first exposed to art. Taking trips to museums, Wiley was taken aback by the artwork of British painters like Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. A year later, he traveled to Russia for a six-week arts program hosted by the Center for U.S./U.S.S.R. Initiatives. These formative experiences were the beginning of Wiley’s artistic career, in which he developed his passion and love for art.
Rumors of War, The Chancellor Seguier on Horseback, 2005
Wiley’s artistic education continued as he attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. There, he became certain that he wanted to pursue art in the future. He competed in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Academic, Cultural, Technological Scientific Olympics several times, in which he won bronze and gold medals for his art. Later, he went on to cultivate his artistic skills, earning his bachelor’s from the San Francisco Art Institute and his master’s from Yale University. From there, he moved to New York City where he became an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum of Harlem. Inspired by the culture and community, he began making his famous portraits of African American men and women whom he just encountered in the street. Combining his traditional training and modern style, he created beautiful portraitures, reflecting the life and culture of the black community. Some of his most famous and beloved works include the Passing/Posing series (2001-2004), Rumors of War series (2005), and Down series (2008).
Socio-economic Context
Passing/Posing Untitled, 2001
Growing up in the south side of Los Angeles, Wiley was very fortunate to have a protective and nurturing mother. She ran a small antiques store, and many times, they rummaged whatever they could find in the streets and gladly accepted donations from other people. At the time, the streets were overrun by gangs and drugs. This prompted his mother to enroll Wiley into a lot of after school programs, such as arts classes. Wiley recalls the curfews and rules his mother enforced, sheltering him indoors and away from the dangers of the neighborhood. But a hip-hop culture also emerged during this time. The colorful appearance and swagger-like attitude inspired Wiley’s later art, which focuses on these “alpha males” of black culture. Especially in Harlem where the streets were jam-packed with life, Wiley drew much of his subjects from here, finding that they exhibited “some sort of energy surrounding them.” He was in awe of the rich street life and “shocking immediacy of people’s presence.” The close proximities of the Harlem streets created a sense of interconnectedness amongst the people, which Wiley loved. This ravishing community of drugs and violence went hand in hand with the proliferating music and art, all taking place in black “ghettos” like Harlem. Although he grew up in a poor socio-economic class, he received invaluable experiences, opportunities, and exposure that led to his famous work.
Down, Femme Piquee Par Un Serpent, 2008
Cultural Context
Kehinde Wiley makes a profound cultural statement with his artwork through his juxtaposition of images of young black men from urban communities against contrasting, ornate, decorative backgrounds that evoke glorified artistic eras of the past, from the preferred backgrounds of Old Renaissance masters to the frills of the Rococo period to iconic architecture from the peak of Islam. His figurative paintings also have African American men assume iconic poses from history’s most recognized paintings, thus using familiar imagery to make a hard-hitting statement about the absence of African Americans from the historical, cultural, and artistic narratives most widely studied by scholars and other aspiring artists. By inserting those with less societal power and influence into iconic paintings, he endows these young black men with a “hero’s” status, encouraging the viewer to reexamine his or her definitions of power and prestige, almost to the level of comparing the hierarchy of street credibility that exists in African American communities to the climbing of Olympus found in Classical artwork and culture.
A prolific example of Wiley’s drawing upon a classical masterpiece is his rendition of The Death of St. Cecilia, a sculpture by Stefano Maderno, completed in 1600. Kehinde Wiley’s version, The Virgin Martyr St.Cecilia, demonstrates an African American male in the same vulnerable, final resting position as that of St. Cecilia in Maderno’s masterpiece, allowing Wiley to make a statement about early violent deaths of males in African American communities.
Death of St. Cecilia, Maderno, 1600
Virgin Martyr St. Cecilia, Wiley, 2008
Another example of Kehinde Wiley’s repurposing of classical masterpieces is his 2008 painting The Lamentation over Dead Christ, which depicts an African American male, dead, using the same unsettling foreshortening as Andrea Mantegna, in her 1480 Renaissance painting Lamentation of Christ.
Lamentation of Christ, Mantegna, 1480
The Lamentation Over the Dead Christ, 2008
Two other striking examples of Wiley juxtaposing contrasting Classical and African American cultural icons to make a statement about black power and a history of black cultural oppression include his paintings Napoleon and Triple Portrait of Charles I.
Kehinde Wiley, 2007
Triple Portrait of King Charles I: Van Dyck, 1635
Kehinde Wiley has created a place for himself in the lineup of history’s great portraitists, following Reynolds, Gainsborough, Titian, and Van Eyck. He is able to use the traditional portrait to make a statement about wealth, glorification, power, and heroism in today’s black communities. Another interesting cultural consideration of Wiley’s is his choice of subject. While portraits traditionally only depicted the very wealthy or very powerful, Wiley follows the footsteps of his idol, 15th century Flemish master Hans Memling, who was among the first artists to paint individuals who were not royalty or members of the clergy. Kehinde Wiley draws upon this by using “street casting” to find his subjects, approaching common strangers on the streets and asking them to sit for portraits. Thus, Wiley is able to use an art style typically associated with the elite to make a statement about the common black man.
Connection to Seminar Themes
Studying Kehinde Wiley’s artwork allows us to consider the seminar theme of Social Justice. Wiley unique style of art was developed due to his determination to draw the public’s attention to the extent to which African Americans are missing from the works of art and historical and cultural narratives that we consider to be the foundation of artistic history. A portrait is one of the most well recognized way to illustrate a person’s status, image, and personality, and yet, for centuries, portraits were only accessible to the wealthiest or most powerful individuals. Many of our most well-recognized portraits depict heroes in poses of power, but this also leads to the conclusion that power and heroism is limited to wealthy white males. By putting the everyday black man in recognizable, powerful positions and allowing us to look at him through the same artistic lens as we would look at Napoleon Bonaparte or Jesus Christ, Wiley shakes viewers by making them realize the power he sees in the men who are often underprivileged, financially challenged, and facing limited social mobility.
Kehinde Wiley levels the social playing field in terms of which men are deserving of being depicted as heroes and being represented in our most well-respected and influential works of art. If any man is capable of looking at art and forming his own opinion of it, and every man is capable of looking at a portrait of a hero and seeing the traits and accomplishments to be admired, then perhaps every man deserves to be the subject of a work of art as well: to strike a heroic pose, and to show that there is just as much to be glorified and admired among the men in modern Harlem as in the men of Florence during the Renaissance.
Bibliography
“Kehinde Wiley.” Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 62, Gale, 2007. Biography in Context, remote.baruch.cuny.edu/loginurl=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1606003772/BIC1?u=cuny_baruch&xid=c625bafb. Accessed 26 Nov. 2017.
Kehinde Wiley, Kehinde Wiley Studio, kehindewiley.com/.
“Kehinde Wiley.” Newsmakers, vol. 2, Gale, 2012. Biography in Context, remote.baruch.cuny.edu/loginurl=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1618005701/BIC1?u=cuny_baruch&xid=ac629e4a. Accessed 26 Nov. 2017.
Mancoff, Debra N. “Kehinde Wiley.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 28 Nov. 2016, www.britannica.com/biography/Kehinde-Wiley.
Quito, Anne. “This Painter Remixes Classical European Art with Black Urban Youth.” Quartz, Quartz, 3 Apr. 2015, qz.com/375262/the-painter-who-remixes-classical-european-art-with- black- urban-youth/.
“September Artist of the Month: Kehinde Wiley – WetCanvas.” WetCanvas RSS, www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=581462.
December 14, 2017 at 11:08 pm
Kehinde Wiley combines a mixture of traditional and modern style to create portraits that reflect on the life and culture of the African American community. His neighborhood of the Harlem streets greatly influenced his sense of immediacy and interconnectedness among the close-knit community. Since he grew up in a poor socio-economical class, many of my artwork illustrates the less societal powerful people into iconic paintings. He interprets classical masterpiece and adapts elements of the black people into his artwork. For example, his painting of The Lamentation over Dead Christ in 2008 has the overall same concept as the Lamentation of Christ by Andrea Mantegna in 1480. His unique paintings draw attention to the racial differences and depict the black men as influential works of art.
December 19, 2017 at 12:11 am
I believe that the most important aspect to all forms is art is the underlying message behind each piece. With the paintings of Wiley, each encompasses an aggressive message that captivates the audience on first sight. Virgin Martyr St. Cecilia is one of the perfect examples of this captivating message I’m talking about. Most of the paintings I have seen is either a portrait, a painting of a scenery, or some depiction of an inanimate object. What sets Virgin Martyr St. Cecilia apart from majority of the art piece I have seen is the power embedded in the painting itself. Reading the intended message after the first glance adds a fulfilling feeling because then the artistic value doesn’t only rely on the visual itself, but also the message behind it.
December 22, 2017 at 3:13 am
Kehinde Wiley is a revolutionary artist who I’m jealous I didn’t choose to work on for myself! His urban spin on classical artworks is admirable and flies somewhat in the face of purists and elitist classical-lovers. I like how you covered the ideas that Kehinde Wiley was trying to portray by including dead young African American males in his pieces of art. The idea that he infuses black people into art that was originally composed of white people (for example, Napoleon on horseback) also brings into question the idea that there is no real, palpable difference between races, generations, etc.
December 24, 2017 at 5:35 am
Kehinde Wiley’s style of art is something I have never seen anyone else do, though that may not mean much given my limited knowledge of art. What I admire the most about Wiley is his purpose for creating all of his pieces, which have a central theme. He places a black man in a heroic position that is traditionally depicted as being occupied by a white male, and this speaks to the necessity of recognizing the presence of black people where they have typically been disregarded. With the advancement of social media, the issues faced by the black population have been gradually brought to light, but society has a long way to go before they are granted the justice of which they have been deprived. Kehinde Wiley’s artwork are significant contributions to the movements that continue to be necessary today.