About the Work
Kehinde Wiley’s finely crafted busts reference iconic sculptures of the past. This work is inspired by French artist Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's 1872 bust La Négresse, inscribed with the words, " Pourquoi! Naître esclave!" ("Why born a slave?") Wiley imitates the classical sideward turn and drapery of Carpeaux's sculpture but replaces the original figure with a young black man wearing a contemporary Los Angeles Lakers Jersey. By reframing familiar art historical associations, Wiley creates a space for African-American culture in the Western visual tradition.
About the Artist
Kehinde Wiley masterfully borrows the language of Old Master portraiture to reframe art historical tropes of subject matter, power, and recognition in the context of race. His large-scale figurative paintings are equally as grand, ornate, and rich in symbolism as traditional portraiture; however, Wiley subverts the canon by depicting male protagonists of African descent, a demographic that has been virtually omitted from the Western painting tradition throughout the centuries.
Wiley’s models typically wear everyday contemporary clothing—sweatshirts, jeans, sports jerseys—while enacting traditional roles seen in canonical portraiture such as the gallant equestrian or the stoic Christ figure. The artist initially approached young men on the streets of Harlem and convinced them to pose for him in his studio and recreate classical portraits. His approach has now expanded to embrace models (not all of them black) in cities around the world, from Jerusalem to Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro, as part of his ongoing World Stage series.
The artist's work has been exhibited widely, at institutions ranging from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., to New York's Jewish Museum, which held a survey of new work from his World Stage: Israel series in 2012.
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