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Kehinde Wiley Exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum Challenges Ideals of Race, Gender and the Politics of Representation

Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977). Shantavia Beale II, 2012. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. (152.4 x 121.9 cm). Collection of Ana and Lenny Gravier. © Kehinde Wiley.
Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977). Shantavia Beale II, 2012. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. (152.4 x 121.9 cm). Collection of Ana and Lenny Gravier. © Kehinde Wiley. (Photo: Jason Wyche)
Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977). Shantavia Beale II, 2012. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. (152.4 x 121.9 cm). Collection of Ana and Lenny Gravier. © Kehinde Wiley. (Photo: Jason Wyche)

Beginning February 20—May 24, 2015, The Brooklyn Museum will open Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic-- an overview of the artist Kehinde Wiley's prolific, fourteen-year career, featuring sixty paintings and sculptures.

Located in Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery, 5th Floor, the exhibit raises questions about race, gender, and the politics of representation by portraying contemporary African American men and women using the conventions of traditional European portraiture.

Wiley's signature portraits of everyday men and women riff on specific paintings by Old Masters, replacing the European aristocrats depicted in those paintings with contemporary black subjects, drawing attention to the absence of African Americans from historical and cultural narratives.

Kehinde Wiley, Morpheus, 2008, Oil on canvas, 108 x 180 inches (274.3 x 457.2 cm) Photo: roberta fallon
Kehinde Wiley, Morpheus, 2008, Oil on canvas, 108 x 180 inches (274.3 x 457.2 cm)
Photo: roberta fallon

The subjects in Wiley's paintings often wear sneakers, hoodies and baseball caps-- gear associated with hip-hop culture-- and are set against contrasting ornate decorative backgrounds that evoke earlier eras and a range of cultures.

Through the process of "street casting," Wiley invites individuals, often strangers he encounters on the street, to sit for portraits. In this collaborative process, the model chooses a reproduction of a painting from a book and reenacts the pose of the painting's figure. By inviting the subjects to select a work of art, Wiley gives them a measure of control over the way they're portrayed.

The exhibition includes a selection of Wiley's World Stage paintings, begun in 2006, in which he takes his street casting process to other countries, widening the scope of his collaboration.

Kehinde Wiley: The World Stage: Jamaica at Stephen Friedman Gallery Photo: Didier Leroi
Kehinde Wiley: The World Stage: Jamaica at Stephen Friedman Gallery
Photo: Didier Leroi

Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic is organized by Eugenie Tsai, John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum. A fully illustrated catalogue published by the Brooklyn Museum and DelMonico Books • Prestel will accompany the exhibit.




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