2. ART FILM TELEVISION MUSIC
C U L T U R E
A Beautiful Democracy
BY LARRY OSSEI-MENSAH
Kehinde Wiley’s career retrospective makes high art accessible.
Bold, brash and visually arresting aptly describe the dynamic oeuvre of megastar artist Kehinde Wiley.
For the past 14 years, Wiley has held court in the contemporary art world transforming the perception
of the black body with a radiant array of sculptures and paintings. Inspired by his observations of street
life around the globe from Harlem to Haiti, Wiley uses his art as a conduit to explore concerns related
to race, power and cultural representation. The recent recipient of the U.S. State Department Medal of
Arts award juxtaposes the grand narratives of classical European portraiture with street-casted models,
ultimately relaying the nuances of the urban experience with elegance and grace.
TK
One only has to watch Oscar-nominated
director Lee Daniels’s runaway hit television
show Empire to comprehend Wiley’s influ-
ence as the premier black artist of our genera-
tion: the South Central Los Angeles native’s
work is featured prominently in nearly every
episode of the debut season. Occupying the
role of artist-as-celebrity has enabled Wiley,
37, to take an aggressive point of view that
clashes with the tropes normally associated
with black masculinity, class and disenfran-
chisement. Not since Jean-Michel Basquiat
has a black artist been able to capture the
hearts and minds of a generation via their
artistic practice.
Wiley’s latest exhibition, Kehinde Wiley: A
New Republic—a retrospective of his pieces
that have come to define his iconic career—is
currently on view at the Brooklyn Museum.
The accessibility to his work allows Wiley to
seamlessly connect on a personal level with
everyone from the art world cognoscenti
to the average Joe. Wiley’s capacity to fuse
disparate worlds to create a new conversa-
tion is a credit to his vision and talent. A New
Republic illustrates why he is one of the most
important artists of his generation.
Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic is on view at the Brooklyn
Museum until May 24th, 2015. brooklynmuseum.org ;
kehindewiley.com
www.uptownmagazine.com 43
Femme piquée par un serpent, 2008. Oil on canvas
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3. C U L T U R E
Shantavia Beale II, 2012. Oil on canvas
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