JTF (just the facts): A total of 16 photographs and 1 painting, hung in the main gallery, the entry and the side gallery spaces. The photographs are framed in brown wood and matted. 15 of the images are from the Black Light series (although only 14 are in the main space; I must have missed the other hung somewhere else). No dimensions were given, but they looked to be about 24×20. (Installation shots at right.)
Comments/Context: Kehinde Wiley’s aggressively vibrant portraits of young African American men are an exercise in jarring juxtapositions, at once vaguely familiar and altogether different than anything we’re used to seeing. Drawing liberally from the canon of art history, he has borrowed poses and allegories from images of kings, noblemen and saints (those with status and power in society) and applied them to men from urban Hip Hop culture (those who have lacked such status and power to date): crowns and halos have been exchanged for flat brimmed baseball hats worn sideways; velvet cloaks and riding breeches have been traded for hoodies and oversized plaid shirts; elaborate jewelry is now an Etch-a-Sketch belt buckle; waxed mustaches have been replaced by scruffy beards and goatees. Quoting from 500 years of painting, Wiley has collapsed the typical boundaries and conventions of portraiture, using the visual language of the past to tell us compelling stories of the present.
These pictures work not because of the witty references and tricky overlapping candy-colored Arts and Crafts floral wallpapers; the poses and backgrounds are simply tools that Wiley uses to carefully focus our attention on his subjects. It is their stories that he wants to tell; each one is given full confident attention, the contrast of the surroundings opening up subtler questions about the struggles and triumphs of young African American men in today’s world. Transit Hub:
- Artist website (here)
- New York magazine slideshow (here)
- Recognize! at the National Portrait Gallery (here)
- Interview with M.I.A. (here)
Kehinde Wiley, Black Light
Through September 26th
Thanks. I am not in New York, so it was very helpful to read your description of the show. I think we will follow your advice “while they're hot”.