Vivid: Kehinde Wiley- A Homage

By Jo Phillips

As we are nearing to the end of our Vivid theme, we’d like to pay homage to the talented artist Kehinde Wiley and his intriguing artwork. We featured him in our article ‘Burden to Create‘ in our Chronicle Issue Digital Magazine, which highlighted the new creativity that was emerging from young African/African-American artists. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts launched an exhibition which began June 11th 2016 and is finishing on September 5th 2016, it is entitled ‘Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic’.The aim of the exhibition is to celebrate Wiley’s inspiring and retrospective artwork and it will be presented through 60 captivating paintings and sculptures. His work is very engaging as it aims to raise questions about race, gender, and the politics of representation, by portraying contemporary African-American men and women in a light unexpected.By using the basis of traditional European portraiture his artwork reflects a juxtaposition and a fusion of old and new. It puts traditional European artwork, out of its comfort zone and Kehinde’s work has sparked a much needed conversation about the absence of people of colour from historical images or narratives even. Wiley often depicts his contemporary black subjects wearing trainers, hoodies and other clothing associated with the African-American culture of today.