An Economist profile:
Kehinde Wiley, an African-American artist, has gained attention for his vibrant, large-scale paintings that appear to mix urban hip-hop imagery with old-master portraiture. His subjects tend to be young black men in hoodies and jeans, who strike the confident poses of kings and aristocratic dandies against bright and ornate wallpaper-like backdrops. For his World Stage series, Mr Wiley has travelled the globe to paint portraits of black men from the streets of India, China, Brazil, Nigeria and Senegal. The most recent stop on this world tour was Israel, and his portraits of confident black Israeli Arabs and Jews are now on view at San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum until May 27th...[continue reading]
Image courtesy of Kehinde Wiley
