Kehinde Wiley

About

Raised in South Central LA, Wiley won a scholarship to study art at Yale before quickly rising to fame with his detailed paintings of black men (and later, women) in poses straight from the Old Masters. The pieces set out to counteract the lack of black figures in galleries and museums, echoing historical works in their use of light and form. The attire of Wiley’s subjects, meanwhile, places them firmly in the 21st century, while the detailed, repetitive backgrounds lend a signature intricacy. Wiley is currently based in Dakar, Senegal, where he also runs the artist-in-residence programme, Black Rock.