Finally!

EEK!!! I know I'm really late, but here it is!


One day I decided that I was going to take a day trip to Washington, DC and go visit everything that I wanted to. I went to the National Portrait Gallery to see a group exhibition that I thought sounded interesting when I was planning my day - Recognize: Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture. There I was introduced to Kehinde Wiley. A painter who works predominately with black male figures in his work, I was really drawn into his large scale paintings. A lot of pattern is used in the paintings, replacing a background in most cases.

Some of the paintings that were on display in the gallery were actually works commissioned by Vh1 for Hip Hop Honors 2005. The piece with Ice T was one that I particularly enjoyed, especially knowing the inspiration source for the work - Ingres, Napoleon on his Imperial Throne. Wiley pulls his poses and inspirations for his paintings from art history. That idea combined with his imagery puts black men into this position of power that is not very common throughout history. My favorite painting of the bunch was the one of LL Cool J. The green on the red background from farther away played with my perception of the colors, looking orange from a distance but red up close.


I think he's definitely someone to watch for.

Kehinde Wiley

Vh1 Hip Hop Honors 2005