Kehinde Wiley's portrayals of urban blacks in almost "royal" like settings and portraits are very interesting and raise a number of talking points. His paintings seem to reference the portraits, commissioned or not, of people in power - those that transcend the norm to become much more than just a person, but a figure. The patterns he intertwines with his portraits - many from old French wallpaper - add to this "royal" feeling behind his works. Some of his works reference religious figures, and provide a sense of contrast as he rebuilds these religious scenes and personalities using inner city blacks, whose images seem to be the polar opposite of the originals.
I believe Wiley is trying to take the often overlooked and impoverished urban black male and place them in the realm of power that the modern elite have enjoyed. He is replacing the central figures in a wide range of contexts with his people - the blacks of the inner cities in America. This demographic has long been disadvantaged, and Wiley's paintings ask why these people can't be seen in the way he paints them. He is taking a demographic that is very rarely seen in this light, and throwing them into it - completely as they are - not trying to hide any aspect of the urban culture. Essentially, he replacing the pompous outfits of histories figures, mostly white, whose portraits live on centuries later, with the typical, disadvantages and often misunderstood inner city black male.
His works are not only technically excellent, but also extremely interesting and raise some very important topics with the simple, yet incredibly strong concept of replacement.
Hey Shannon, nice interpretation of the works. If you saw his website you might have noticed he has painted some celebrities such as Ice-T which brings into question if he's trying to show that the people he's painting are disadvantaged or if he's promoting the culture.
ReplyDeleteI find it particularly interesting how the original works say a lot about the culture and attitude of the time in which it was painted, and even when Wiley keeps the same body language of the characters it sends a different message to the original.