[First things first, click the pic to see it bigger] Kehinde Wiley is an LA native, that holds a SF Art Institute BFA and Yale MFA - and Gen Art Pulse just did quite the e-newsletter on him (which by the way, is one of the only newsletters these days i actually look forward to!). He’s found a niche in bringing the back the glory days of paintings where you imortalize men and women in larger than life gold framed paintings… they were big in the days of kings, and even just a few generations back (there are even quite a few of these at the family house in asia of my grand/great-grand parents)… you know the type - you’ve seen them in any art history and history class. Wiley has put a spin on them and brought this grandeur back to the modern day, imortalizing important Black figures in our lives today in a similar style - but with that modern flair that jumps out so nicely at you. He’s was even comissioned to do the portraits of all the VH1 Hip Hop Honor Honorees in 2005. Its really beautiful breathtaking work - and the idea is pretty sweet. Pity that his work doesn’t cover other people as well! But maybe it will be a start to help inspire others to take on the old school portrait styles and reinvent them for today.
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