Home / Authors / Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley Quotes

Painter

Kehinde Wiley is a renowned contemporary painter known for his modern interpretations of traditional portraiture. His works typically depict portraits of African Americans, Latinos, and other minorities, blending elements of history, culture, and pop culture. Born in 1977, Wiley's work has had a profound impact on the art world.

Filter quotes by topic

All Thinking Painting Art Artist People Way World Knows Looks Type

Famous Kehinde Wiley Quotes

“When you're at your best, you're analyzing yourself and becoming increasingly isolated from a broader narrative.”

Becoming Narrative Isolated Analyzing

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“What's interesting about my project recently is that I'm going out into broader global spaces but then isolating at the same time - sort of pushing out but then pulling in.”

Space Interesting Projects Pushing Going Out Pulling

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“The expectations of the viewer are what you're asking about. And the expectations of the viewer are manifold. However, they are very fixed, given who I am in the world. People have certain expectations of me as an artist.”

People World Artist Certain Given Expectations Asking Who I Am Fixed Viewers Manifold

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I use those expectations as a color on my palette, a certain temperature in the room. You can use those expectations for the great punchline, but also for a great painting, in society.”

Use Certain Rooms Color Painting Expectations Temperature Palette Punchlines

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Painting is situational. And my particular situation exists within gender, race, class, sexuality, nation.”

Nations Race Situation Class Particular Painting Gender Sexuality

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Even the hubris or the desire to go out into the world and find patterns that reflect back to yourself is so Lacanian and, like, mirrored, so as to be ridiculous. But there are very fixed sets of expectations that the world has about this work.”

World Desire Expectations Patterns Ridiculous Fixed Hubris

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Can I - do I have to be obsessed with it and proceed from that? Not always. But when I'm on top of my game, I definitely think about the way that the world sees me and the way that the world thinks about painting. You must.”

Thinking World Way Games Painting Obsessed

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I think that an obsession with art history gave rise to the work.”

Thinking Art Obsession Art History

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“A realization and a dissection of the canon gave rise to the work. But there's also a sneaking suspicion of the canon.”

Realization Suspicion Canon Dissection

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“There's quite obviously the desire to open the rule sets that allow for inclusion or disclusion. I think that my hope would be that my work set up certain type of precedent, that allowed for great institutions, museums and viewers to see the possibilities of painting culture to be a bit more inclusive.”

Thinking Would Be Desire Certain Culture Bits Possibility Painting Type Institutions Museums Inclusion Viewers Precedent

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I think that the Kehinde Wiley brand is something that I'm working towards expanding and to inclusion.”

Thinking Brands Inclusion Expanding

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I'd like to walk that fine line between the authentic artist self and the manufactured artist self. I'd like to exist outside of a set of expectations or assumptions about what the Kehinde Wiley brand is. And I'd like to walk towards something that's a bit more unpredictable, human.”

Humans Self Artist Bits Lines Walks Fine Expectations Brands Assumption Unpredictable Fine Lines

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“My studio practice is a - I suppose a bit more like [Thomas] Gainsborough or [Peter Paul] Rubens in the sense that any artist who wants to create a grand narrative on a grand scale has to sort of parse out some of the smaller aspects of painting or the more mundane aspects of painting to others.”

Want Artist Bits Practice Painting Aspect Studios Scales Narrative Peter Mundane Rubens

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“For example, in one of my last exhibitions I had a 50-foot massive painting with I think perhaps a hundred thousand hand-painted small flowers. This was the Christ painting [The Dead Christ in the Tomb, 2008] in my Down exhibition [2008]. Now, I simply can't spend eight hours a day painting small, identical flowers. And so I've got a team that allows me to have these grand, sweeping statements.”

Thinking Hands Lasts Christ Hours Team Feet Example Painting Flower Thousand Hundred Eight Statements Massive Identical Tombs Sweeping Exhibitions

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“At the same time I really enjoy painting flesh.”

Enjoy Painting Flesh

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I love being a portraitist.”

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“While I can hire out the portrait, I don't, because it's just - that's where I shine. You know, that's my blood sport.”

Knows I Can Sports Blood Shining Portraits

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I love being able to have a team.”

Able Love Is Team

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I love the flexibility of saying, "Today we're making 50-foot paintings, and we're going to have to join hands and figure out how that's going to work." But in the end, it's a possibility.”

Ends Hands Today Feet Figures Possibility Painting Flexibility Going To Work

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“You know, I'm incredibly blessed to be able to have this level of choice as an artist today. In this economy, it's something that I, you know, pinch myself at constantly, just thinking about how I could wake up tomorrow and decide I'm going to start painting this or that. So it's good.”

Thinking Knows Today Able Artist Choices Levels Economy Painting Tomorrow Wake Up Blessed

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“While it may seem a little mundane, the material realities of realizing the painting actually have a lot to do with how you should read the painting. For example, we assume that what the model is wearing is what we found him in in the streets. No; in fact, a lot of what happens is that in Photoshop certain aspects are being heightened or diminished. There is no actual material truth in these paintings.”

Should May Littles Facts Reality Seems Happens Certain Found Realizing Streets Example Painting Materials Models Aspect Assuming Mundane Photoshop

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“There's a team of filmmakers who follow me in the streets when I'm finding these models, to give me a sense of legitimacy to a casual stranger. This is New York City. No one's going to follow you back to your studio.”

Giving Cities Team Streets New York Findings Models Give Me Studios Stranger Filmmaker New York City Casual Follow Me Legitimacy

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“You have to bring books to explain your work.”

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Usually I bring very attractive women with me to excite interest. I mean, it's a type of, like, strangers-with-candy situation.”

Mean Interest Situation Type Stranger Attractive Candy Attractive Woman

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“You know, the process, I think, is the story. And it goes back, again, to what I said about chance and about radical contingency, the idea that all of this is this well-oiled machine that's been reared up and, like, really articulated and thought about.”

Thinking Knows Wells Said Ideas Stories Process Chance Machines Radical Back Again Contingency Well Oiled Machines

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“When the fat lady comes out to sing, we don't know how she feels that day. We don't know if she's suffering from a cold or is mourning a death or falling in love. We don't know. But so all of that chance is the performance.”

Ifs Knows Feels Suffering Fall Chance Know How Cold Performances Falling In Love Fats Mourning Chances Are

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Most people say, "Hell, no. I don't know who you are. This scares me. Like, I'm not interested in this."Another way of looking at these paintings is, these are the guys who said yes.”

People Knows Way Said Guy Hell Painting Who You Are Scare Not Interested Another Way

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“You'll find that street casting in America is a lot different than street casting in different nations.”

Different America Nations Streets Casting

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“In America, there's this type of expectation of just-add-water celebrity, this type of, "Of course you found me; we're all going to be famous for 15 minutes," sort of Paris-Hilton-ization of society.”

America Courses Found Water Minutes Type Expectations Add Paris

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Whereas I remember being in Dakar, in Senegal, where I have my third studio, and street casting, and I remember looking at the faces of the young men that we were speaking to through translators and so on, showing them the books. Complete - completely different response.”

Men Book Different Remember Faces Young Streets Thirds Response Studios Young Man Casting Translators

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I pay my models to work with me, so there becomes this weird sort of economic bartering thing, which made me feel really sort of uncomfortable, almost as though you were buying into a situation - which, again, is another way of looking at those paintings. The body language in those paintings is a lot more stiff.”

Way Feels Made Body Language Pay Situation Economic Painting Models Uncomfortable Buying Another Way Body Language Bartering

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“It felt really radically uncomfortable. And I was really not sure at first about releasing that body of work. But then the more I thought about it, the more I thought that that position, that location, is something that's just sort of interesting in its own right, as an experience, as a process. Again, we're talking about this rubric, this set of rules, this grid that I toss on top of different locations globally. This is what came out of Africa.”

Firsts Different Body Felt Process Interesting Talking Position Uncomfortable Not Sure Location Toss Grids Rubrics

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I've had moments where I've met people who were complete, like, idiots, who could not understand visual culture to save their lives.”

People Moments Culture Mets Idiot Visuals

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“There's always a tug of war. Like, in the States, in America, there's certainly a higher quotient, I would imagine, of, like, macho, like, masculinity posturing.”

War States America Imagine Higher Masculinity Macho Tug Of War

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“So sometimes you have to play your hand and sort of push in a direction. And I think that masculinity is the driving point for a lot of the way that people, like, posture in the work.”

People Thinking Way Sometimes Play Hands Driving Masculinity Posture

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“This is - it's a sociological experiment in many ways. And so you're seeing the results of what happens when you put a lot of boys in a room looking at art history.”

Way Art Happens Rooms Results Boys Seeing Experiments Art History Sociological

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“That's the trouble with, I think, my - the contemporary read of my work. So many people just simply say, "These are pretty pictures of black boys." They're not really thinking about, like, what the whole thing is.”

People Thinking Whole Black Boys Trouble Contemporary Black Boy Pretty Picture

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I've met others [people] who simply responded to me, "You're Kehinde Wiley. I know your work. I saw it at the Brooklyn Museum [Brooklyn, NY] And I'd be honored to be in your work."”

People Knows Saws Mets Museums Honored Brooklyn

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“People who - and I think that's been a huge education for me. I think it's a - it's a privilege to be able to meet such a broad cross-section of New York and increasingly the world, and to get a feel of how people respond to visual culture.”

People Thinking World Feels Able Culture New York Huge Crosses Privilege Visuals Broads Sections

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“You know, one of my - one of my best and, I think, most enlightening moments was when I was contacted by Michael Jackson. And he requested that I paint his portrait.”

Thinking Knows Moments Paint Portraits Enlightening

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“In our conversations, he [Michael Jackson] revealed a surprising understanding of art history. We were going through the finer points of the difference between one Italian sculptor to the next. You know, this - these are things that we don't necessarily assume of people in sanctified light.”

People Knows Art Light Next Understanding Differences Conversation Assuming Italian Surprising Sculptors Art History

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“He [Michael Jackson] would choose specific moments. They were art history books that I prefer. They were paintings that he prefers. It's this dance back and forth. We were halfway through the dance. He died.”

Art Book Moments Painting Died Halfway Back And Forth Art History History Books

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I have a lot of problems with Western European easel painting.”

Problem Painting Western

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“In the end I'm in love with it [Western European easel painting]. And that's where a lot of the influence from the work comes from.”

Ends Influence Painting Western

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“There are just so many different types of people that come into my studio, and secondarily, there's the idea of ideation, like, "Who are you and what do you see in yourself in this other person?" So many different people that you would see so many different things.”

People Persons Ideas Different Type Studios Different Things Different Peoples Ideation

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I think what's really interesting and useful about this question is that ultimately all art is a type of self-portraiture. And so in the act of identifying yourself, you're using others to get to that point. And so you're parsing out different aspects of different people in the world. You're choosing not only from America but increasingly globally different aspects of what's out there.”

People Thinking World Art Different Self America Interesting Type Art Is Aspect Different Peoples Really Interesting Identifying Portraiture Identifying Yourself

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I have a really strong suspicion of the romantic nature of portraiture, the idea that you're telling some essential truth about the interior lives of your subject.”

Ideas Strong Subjects Essentials Suspicion Interiors Portraiture

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“We have a lot of sort of received historical ways of viewing portraiture. And I suppose in some way I'm sort of questioning that by toying with the rules of the game.”

Way Games Historical Questioning Portraiture Rules Of The Game

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Like commercial stuff is sort of cheap and disposable and fun and can be sort of interesting in many ways. I love being in popular culture and existing in the evolution of popular culture. But it's so different from painting, and it's so different from that sort of slow, contemplative, gradual process that painting is.”

Way Different Culture Fun Stuff Process Love Is Interesting Painting Evolution Popular Culture Contemplative Disposable

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Going back to that idea that painting sits still and that we give ourselves over to it over time. There's a difference between living with - imagine if this were sitting in your living room for 15 years. You'd probably understand the contours of it.”

Ifs Giving Years Stills Ideas Differences Rooms Imagine Painting Sitting Living Room

Author:Kehinde Wiley

About the Author

Born: 1977
Known for: Painter
Quotes: 177

Related Topics

Thinking Painting Art Artist People Way World Knows Looks Type

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Similar Authors

Gerhard RichterBrowse related quotes
Georg BaselitzBrowse related quotes
Ad ReinhardtBrowse related quotes
Peter DoigBrowse related quotes
Caio FonsecaBrowse related quotes
Philip GustonBrowse related quotes
Julian SchnabelBrowse related quotes
Pablo PicassoBrowse related quotes
Robert RauschenbergBrowse related quotes
Jerry SaltzBrowse related quotes