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Quote by Kehinde Wiley

“It never really understood its own situational luxury. And I think that by and large the privilege of being Kehinde Wiley in the 21st century, making these high-priced luxury goods, traveling the world, pointing at these people, behooves me to have a point of view and to say something about it.”

Quote by Kehinde Wiley

Author

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. more

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“I think didactic art is boring. I mean, I love it in terms of, like, some of the historical precedents that I've learned from. You needed that. We needed those building blocks in terms of - you know, when I look at a great Barbara Kruger, for example, and you're thinking about, you know, the woman's position in society - you know, she found a way of making it beautiful, but at the same time it's very sort of preachy, you know what I mean?”

“For me, I wanted to create something that's much more driven by a type of selfishness, a type of decadence.”

Wanted Type Driven Selfishness Decadence

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Believing that navel-gazing in and of itself can transform itself into something that means something for society. I mean, we are communicative creatures. We desire to sort of understand each other's experiences and points of view. Storytelling is what painting, literature, filmmaking is all about.”

Believe Mean Desire Literature Views Painting Creatures Point Of View Storytelling Filmmaking Gazing Navel Navel Gazing

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“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