Kehinde Wiley

A NEW REPUBLIC

text JORGE PEREZCHICA

Kehinde Wiley is a leading American artist originally from Los Angeles and based in New York. His new exhibition, “A New Republic,” is currently touring the United States, includes an overview of the artist’s prolific fourteen-year career and features sixty paintings and sculptures.

Wiley’s interest in art history’s portrait painting tradition began at a young age, influenced by the city of Los Angeles’ cultural diversity and by visits to the Old Master-filled Huntington Art Collections. At age twelve, he attended school in Russia on an arts fellowship. Wiley further developed his artistic craft through earning a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1999 and his MFA from Yale University, School of Art in 2001. In January 2015, Kehinde Wiley was honored by the U.S. Department of State as a recipient of the Medal of Arts for his commitment to cultural diplomacy.

Traditional portraiture has been tied to representation of power, European courts and churches. Today, portraits have become commonplace with the rise of technology and social media — our eyes constantly bombarded with a deluge of selfies at every click. In “A New Republic” Wiley raises questions about race, gender, and the politics of representation by portraying contemporary African American men and women using the conventions of traditional 18th century European portraiture. With attention to detail, bold colors and sublime beauty, Wiley’s portraits break through stereotypes and engages viewers to have an important conversation about identity.

Kehinde Wiley’s latest exhibition, A New Republic, was featured at the Seattle Art Museum from February 11 through May 8, 2016. Coachella Magazine is proud to present Catharina Manchanda, Jon & Mary Shirley Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art. In our interview, Catharina Manchanda shares her insight on Kehinde Wiley’s artwork, cultural themes, and outreaching influence in Seattle’s community and beyond.

What is the role of a curator and do you have a favorite piece within the exhibit?
Generally speaking, the curator develops the scope and selection of works for an exhibition in conversation with the artist. As this is a traveling exhibition, the checklist of works was already set by my colleague in Brooklyn.

I configured the exhibition for our spaces and organized the works thematically (rather than chronologically). This arrangement is different from the presentation in Brooklyn. In addition, I added one painting to the show, which is on view in our entrance hall. In addition, I am happy that we can show the documentary film—An Economy of Grace in the exhibition galleries. Finally, I wrote new interpretive texts for our galleries, including a brochure that visitors can take home.

What attracted you to Kehinde’s work to begin with?
Kehinde Wiley is an important and influential contemporary artist whose work has particular resonance and urgency when considering the social and political developments in the United States in recent years. Please note that this exhibition was curated by Eugenie Tsai at the Brooklyn Museum and is touring the country. I reconfigured the show slightly for our spaces.

What have you learned about Kehinde Wiley himself over the course of curating this exhibit? Did this process change your perception about the work? How so?
It was wonderful to meet the artist in person and hear him speak about his work and ideas. He is nuanced and extremely articulate. He wants to make sure we look carefully at the paintings. It was also clear from his own comments about the works that he wants to keep us on our toes-there is no single pat interpretation of his work but rather many layers.

What is the relationship of past and present motifs in Kehinde’s work? And what is the new meaning/message as a result by combining the two?
The paintings are hybrids where elements borrowed from historic works (and their past) rub up against contemporary images, and attire. The paintings open a host of questions about the performance of masculinity and its representation. How do you project a powerful image and authority through your pose, your gestures, your dress? How is this turned into  visual program—historically and in a contemporary arena? How do Kehinde Wiley’s paintings inform the way we look at the history of painting? How do his works inform how we read contemporary culture in all its facets?  Does the artist make us more aware of visual stereotypes in the representation of people of color in contemporary culture? Do we become more aware of colonial histories and their legacies when we measure the dynamic of past and present in Wiley’s portraits? How does the conversation change when we are looking of portraits of women of color? The questions goes on and on and some questions may only come to us long after we have seen this exhibition.

How does queer culture intersect into Kehine’s work? And what has been the public’s response?
What you see in these paintings will depend on what you bring to them. Your own gender identity/ies will inform your readings of the works.

The way he renders bodies and illuminates his sitter’s skin is very seductive. You may understand this in a very literal way or more metaphorically as the seduction folded into a figure of power and authority. There are a few points that will only emerge if visitors look closely and read the titles. For instance: Wiley may show us a painting of a young woman but the painting’s title suggests that the original work depicted a man.  One example is  “St. John the Baptist.”

His Dogon couple, modeled on a famous African sculpture, shows us not a man and a wife but two young men embracing. A painting like this has plenty of ambiguity:

To Western eyes this may suggest an intimate relationship but in many parts of the world, men going hand in hand or embracing is just an expression of friendship. It points to cultural differences as well.

How do the sculptures compare/contrast with his paintings?
They are part of the same conversation. In his paintings he is looking at representational strategies of aristocratic portraits, religious portraits, etc. In his sculptures he has been engaging different representational conventions of the portrait bust.

How does this exhibition impact the Seattle art culture and community and beyond?
I think it is too soon to tell. What we know so far is that the show is incredibly well attended. We are seeing an amazingly diverse audience—young and old, people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are coming to see the show. Our entire roster of tours for school groups were booked up before the exhibition had opened.

What are the social and political impact of Wiley’s work and how does it tie into current events?
It seems to me that the social and political conversations that are percolating in the country right now, are a fruitful and productive context for his work.

What conversations would you like the audience to come away with?
As many as possible. To me, this is the most important and most measurable impact an exhibition can have.
I would hope that conversations take place not only in the galleries but continue outside the museum with family, friends and acquaintances.

web KEHINDEWILEY.COM
links SEATTLEARTMUSEUM.ORG

Artworks featured for this article, courtesy of Seattle Art Museum:

Morpheus, 2008, Kehinde Wiley, American, b. 1977, oil on canvas, 108 x 180 in. Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California; Sean Kelly, New York; Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris; and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London. © Kehinde Wiley.

Anthony of Padua, 2013, Kehinde Wiley, American, B. 1977, Oil on canvas, 72 × 60 in., Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the Contemporary Collectors Forum, 2013.8. © KEHINDE WILEY. Photo: MAX YAWNEY, Courtesy of the artist and ROBERTS & TILTON, Culver City, California.

Anthony of Padua, 2013, Kehinde Wiley, American, b. 1977, oil on canvas, 72 × 60 in., Seattle Art Museum, gift of the Contemporary Collectors Forum, 2013.8. © Kehinde Wiley. Photo: Max Yawney, courtesy of the artist and Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California.

Randerson Romualdo Cordeiro, 2008, Kehinde Wiley, American, b. 1977, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in., Private collection, Golden Beach, Florida, courtesy of Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California. © Kehinde Wiley. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer, courtesy of Roberts & Tilton

Colonel Platoff on His Charger, 2007–8, Kehinde Wiley, American, b. 1977, oil on canvas, 122 x 122 in. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Gift of the Director’s Council and Museum purchase, 2008. © Kehinde Wiley.

Saint Gregory Palamas, 2014, Kehinde Wiley, American, b. 1977, 22k gold leaf and oil on wood panel, 40 x 24 x 2 in. Collection of Edward Tyler Nahem, New York, courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York. © Kehinde Wiley. Photo: Max Yawney.

Houdon Paul-Louis, 2011. Kehinde Wiley, American, b. 1977, bronze with polished stone base, 34 x 26 x 19 in. Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund and A. Augustus Healy Fund, 2012.51. Photo: Sarah DeSantis, Brooklyn Museum.

“Equestrian Portrait of King Philip II (Michael Jackson).” CREDIT: Jonathan Dorado; Courtesy Brooklyn Museum