Black Light

Description

The first monograph from Kehinde Wiley showcases his larger-than-life figures, which disturb and interrupt tropes of portrait painting. He blurs the boundaries between traditional and contemporary modes of representation and the critical portrayal of masculinity as it pertains to black men. The models, dressed in street-wear, assume poses found in painting representative of a white, western history. Without shying away from the complexities of socio-political history, these heroic images exhibit a unique modern style.

Kehinde Wileyreceived his MFA from Yale University in 2001. Shortly after, he became an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem. He is represented by Deitch Projects, New York, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, and Roberts and Tilton, Los Angeles. His work has been exhibited internationally and is in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, New York, the Miami Art Museum, Miami, and the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit. Brian Keith Jacksonis an award-winning author of three novels, playwright, and arts and culture writer. His work has appeared in publications and as wall text for private and public art institutions, as well as in The New York Times, National Public Radio, New York Magazine, the London Observer, Vibe, and Paper, among others.