Kehinde Wiley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kehinde Wiley
Wiley in 2015
Born	(1977-02-28) February 28, 1977 (age 48) Los Angeles, California, US
Alma mater	San Francisco Art Institute Yale University
Known for	Painting, sculpting

Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977) is an American portrait painter who lives in New York City. He is famous for his realistic paintings of Black people. His art often looks like classic artworks from long ago, but with a modern twist. In 2017, Wiley was asked to paint former President Barack Obama's official portrait for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The Columbus Museum of Art once said his paintings are "heroic portraits which address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture."

Time magazine named Wiley one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2018.

Early Life and Art Education

Kehinde Wiley was born in Los Angeles, California. His father is from Nigeria, and his mother is African American. Kehinde has a twin brother. When they were young, their mother wanted them to stay busy and safe. So, she encouraged their interest in art. She enrolled them in art classes after school.

At age 11, Kehinde and his brother were chosen with 48 other kids. They got to spend time at a special art school in Russia, near St. Petersburg. This is where Kehinde discovered his love for painting portraits. He remembers that his brother was even better at portraits than he was! This created a friendly competition between them. They would try to see who could draw the most realistic pictures.

Kehinde kept taking art classes in the US. He went to high school at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. His mother raised him and his five siblings. Their father had returned to Nigeria after finishing his studies. Kehinde has shared that his family lived on welfare checks. His mother also earned a little money from a small 'thrift store' she ran on the sidewalk outside their home.

When he was 20, Kehinde traveled to Nigeria to meet his father. He wanted to explore his family roots there. He was greatly inspired by seeing paintings by famous artists like Gainsborough and Constable. He earned his first art degree from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1999. Then, he received a scholarship to get his master's degree from Yale University School of Art in 2001.

Wiley says the most important lesson he learned in art school was to create art he truly wanted to make. He didn't want to just make art his teachers expected. Before becoming an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, Wiley said this experience "made [him] the artist [he] is today." Jeffrey Deitch, an art dealer, gave Wiley his first solo art show in Chicago in 2005.

The artist Kerry James Marshall has also been a big influence on Kehinde Wiley.

Kehinde Wiley's Art Career

Finding Inspiration for Portraits

Kehinde Wiley is an American portrait painter known for his huge artworks. These pieces grab attention with their bright colors and strong ideas about race and power. He is one of many modern artists who use their art to change how race is seen in the media. When he was asked to paint the portrait of former US President Barack Obama, Wiley became even more famous. His art has been shown in many international exhibits, including in Cuba, Nigeria, and Los Angeles.

Wiley's famous portraits began during his time in Harlem, New York. He was an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum. One day, he found a crumpled mugshot from the New York Police Department. It was a photo of a young African American man with his basic information. Wiley kept this mugshot. It later inspired some of his art, like Conspicuous Fraud Series #1 (Eminence) and Mugshot Study (2006).

Wiley explained that finding the mugshot changed his idea of what a portrait could be. It made him think deeply about how Black men are shown in the world. He felt something was missing in these portrayals. So, he looked back at his knowledge of classical paintings. He started comparing this new type of portraiture with the styles he studied from the 1700s. This sparked his creativity. It led him to combine modern portraits with classic art styles from history.

Wiley's Rumors of War is a large bronze sculpture. It honors young African American people who have been affected by social and political struggles.

Art on the World Stage

At first, Wiley's portraits were based on photos of young men from the streets of Harlem. But soon, he started looking for models all over the world. He found people in cities like Mumbai, Senegal, Dakar, and Rio de Janeiro. This huge collection of work became known as The World Stage.

In these works, models wear their everyday clothes. They are asked to pose like figures in historical artworks from their own countries. It's a mix of "the 'old' inherited by the 'new'." Wiley says this immediately starts a conversation that is both emotional and thoughtful.

Wiley chooses countries that he believes are important in the 21st century for The World Stage. These have included Brazil, Nigeria, India, and China. Wiley says he sees these places as "points of anxiety and curiosity and production" for the world. As he continues to paint models from different countries, he increasingly uses art styles from those countries' histories, not just Western traditions.

Painting President Barack Obama

In October 2017, it was announced that Barack Obama had chosen Wiley to paint his official portrait. This portrait would be displayed in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. At the same time, Amy Sherald was chosen by Michelle Obama to paint the First Lady's portrait. They were the first Black artists to paint official portraits of an American President and First Lady.

Obama's portrait took Wiley over two years to complete. This was from their first talk about the project to the unveiling. The portrait was revealed on February 12, 2018, at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. This gallery is where portraits of past presidents are shown outside the White House.

Other presidential portraits often show leaders in a realistic way, often in an office. This is to show their power. But Wiley painted Obama sitting casually on an old chair. He seems to float among green plants. Each flower in the painting points to a place important in Obama's life. For example, the chrysanthemum is the official flower of Chicago, where he was elected senator. African lilies represent Kenya, honoring Obama's father. Jasmine flowers represent Obama's childhood in Hawaii with his grandparents.

The idea for Obama's pose came from a photo session before the painting. Wiley remembered a quiet moment between shots. Obama was sitting just as he is shown in the portrait. The artist felt this pose was truly authentic to Obama.

During the unveiling, Wiley said that Obama wanted "a very relaxed, man-of-the-people representation." Wiley created this look with small details. Obama has an open collar and no tie. He also seems to be leaning forward, rather than looking distant. Wiley explained that Obama and the plants in the foreground are both competing for attention. Wiley hoped this would show that Obama is more than just his life story and experiences.

President Obama felt that Wiley's art could make an ordinary person look like royalty. He believed it could lift them up and show they belong as part of American life. This reflects Obama's belief that politics should grow from the people up, not the other way around.

Wiley also mentioned that he went to museums in Los Angeles and saw very few artworks showing African Americans. He wanted to change that. He hoped that one day, his artworks would inspire future African American generations. He wanted them to look at museum walls and see someone who looks like them, especially the portrait of the first Black American president. After the unveiling of Wiley's portrait of the President and Amy Sherald's portrait of the First Lady, the Smithsonian National Museum saw a huge increase in visitors.

Rumors of War Statue

Kehinde Wiley's sculpture 'Rumors of War' in Times Square, 2019

Wiley first created a series of works called Rumors of War in 2005. These paintings showed modern men wearing sports jerseys and boots. Wiley kept the original titles of the classic artworks he was referencing.

Wiley thought about this idea again after visiting Richmond, Virginia. He became interested in the Confederate monuments on Monument Avenue. He also thought about the idea of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy existing in a modern town.

In response to these monuments, Wiley decided to create a large sculpture called Rumors of War. It is thirty feet tall. It shows a young, Black man wearing jeans, Nike high-tops, and dreadlocks. The statue was inspired by the J. E. B. Stuart statue on Monument Avenue. Rumors of War was first shown in Times Square. Later, it was moved to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. This museum is about a mile from the J. E. B. Stuart statue that inspired it. At 27 feet high and 16 feet wide, it is his largest artwork so far.

Other Art Projects

Wiley had a big art show in 2016 at the Seattle Art Museum. In May 2017, he had an exhibit called Trickster at the Sean Kelly Gallery in New York City. This show featured 11 paintings of modern Black artists.

In 2006, Wiley opened a studio in Beijing, China. He uses several helpers there to do brushstrokes for his paintings. In 2021, Wiley's artwork Go became a permanent display at Penn Station in New York City. This stained-glass artwork shows Black break-dancers against a sky with clouds. The piece is inspired by old ceiling frescoes from the 1700s. It is his first permanent artwork made of glass.

Art Style and Themes

Reimagining Old Master Paintings

Saint Adelaide (2014) is a stained glass window designed by Wiley. It was inspired by an 1843 window of Saint Adelaide.

Wiley often looks at famous Old Master paintings for the poses of his figures. His paintings often mix old and new ways of showing people. He paints his figures in a realistic way. At the same time, he refers to specific Old Master paintings. This creates a blend of different art styles and influences. These range from French Rococo and Islamic architecture to hip hop culture.

Wiley paints his figures slightly larger than life-size. He shows them in a powerful way, giving them poses that suggest strength and spiritual awakening. Wiley's art explores what it means to be masculine through these powerful and spiritual poses.

In many of his paintings, Wiley places Black people into Old Master paintings. For example, in 2007, he remade Théodore Géricault's early 1800s painting The Charging Chasseur. In Wiley's painting, Officer of the Hussars, a young Black man in casual streetwear is the sword-wielding soldier.

Similarly, his Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps (2005) is based on Napoleon Crossing the Alps (1800) by Jacques-Louis David. This is often seen as a masterpiece. Wiley recreated it with an African rider wearing modern army clothes and a bandanna. Wiley "investigates the perception of blackness." He creates a modern, powerful world where old traditions meet new street style.

Wiley's portraits are based on photographs of young men he meets on the street. He has painted men from Harlem's 125th Street. He has also painted men from the South Central Los Angeles neighborhood where he was born. Dressed in street clothes, his models are asked to pose like figures from Renaissance master paintings. Wiley says his approach is about "questioning the idea of the master painter." His paintings "quote historical sources and position young black men within that field of power." This way, his art blends history and style in a unique and modern way.

This reimagining was also seen in a piece Wiley did for VH1. He was asked to paint honorees for the 2005 Hip Hop Honors program. Wiley painted the rapper Ice T as Napoleon. He also painted Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five as a Dutch guard company from the 1600s.

Sometimes Wiley changes the gender of the figures from the older artworks. In Portrait of a Couple from 2012, he replaces the man and woman from a 1610 painting with two young men.

Showing Power in Art

When Wiley started creating these detailed portraits, his goal was to change how Black men are shown in art. The way he has his models pose, in similar positions to figures in classical paintings, comments on the historical power differences between African American men and white men. In these recreations of 18th-century portraits, modern Black men he meets on the streets take the place of the original subjects. They are taking on positions of power.

He paints them as people who deserve to be noticed. They are not just background elements or in lesser roles. Wiley also creates a picture of African American men that is not often seen in the media today. Wiley challenges ideas that have been pushed onto society for a long time. Instead of showing them as angry or tough, he creates portraits where the figures are dignified, confident, and sometimes even vulnerable. The figures are posed in ways that don't always fit what is considered masculine for Black men today.

Colorful Backgrounds

Wiley's portrait paintings are famous for their bright and colorful backgrounds. These detailed backgrounds are purposely different from the original portraits they are based on. The original backdrops of the classical portraits Wiley uses often show grand estates, families, and other possessions.

Wiley, instead, creates detailed backgrounds full of bright patterns. Sometimes these patterns even come into the front of the painting, in front of the figures. His goal is to create a background that, just like his figures, competes to be noticed. He blends the two to make the figures stand out even more. The background imagery adds many layers of meaning to the artwork.

Wiley gets ideas for these designs from historical art periods like Rococo and Neoclassical art. He also gets ideas from fancy wallpapers. The original portraits that Wiley recreates would have hung in the lavish homes of wealthy people. They would have been surrounded by other detailed decorations to show off the homeowners' wealth. By copying these patterns and designs from rich decor and other interior design elements, Wiley creates a similar feeling of wealth with his portraits. Viewers are led to see the urban figures in a new way, as they connect them with the luxurious backgrounds.

Awards and Recognition

In October 2011, Wiley received the Artist of the Year Award from the New York City Art Teachers Association. Two of Wiley's paintings were shown on top of 500 New York City taxi cabs in early 2011. This was a project with the Art Production Fund.

Puma AG asked Wiley to paint four portraits of famous African soccer players. Patterns from his paintings were even used in Puma athletic gear. This series, called Legends of Unity: World Cup 2010, was shown in early 2010 in New York City.

His work was shown at the National Portrait Gallery as part of the Recognize exhibit in 2008. A big show called Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic was held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the summer of 2016. It displayed nearly 60 of his paintings and sculptures.

Personal Life

Between 2014 and 2018, Kehinde Wiley created Black Rock Senegal in Yoff. This is a special place for artists to live and work.

Collections

See also

In Spanish: Kehinde Wiley para niños