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Quote by Kehinde Wiley

“Just physically, if you looked at the house that I grew up in, my mother created this greenhouse. And surrounded the entire property. And there was, like, trees and sculptures and like - it was, like, this crazy, like, secret garden space.”

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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“Going to the Huntington gardens and libraries was radically important for me. They have one of the best collections of 18th- and 19th-century British portraiture that you can imagine in Southern California. One doesn't think about Southern California as being the capital of great art.”

Thinking Art Important Imagine Century Garden Library British California Collections Southern Great Art 19th Century Portraiture Southern California

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I think, at the L.A. County Museum of Art, I saw my first example of Kerry James Marshall, who had a very sort of heroic, oversized painting of black men in a barbershop. But it was painted on the same level and with the same urgency that you would see in a grand-scale [Anthony] van Dyck or [Diego] Velazquez. The composition was classically informed; the painting technique was masterful. And it was something that really inspired me because, you know, these were images of young, black men in painting on the museum walls of one of the more sanctified and sacred institutions in Los Angeles.”

Thinking Knows Men Firsts Art Young Black Levels Saws Example Painting Wall Institutions Sacred Inspired Technique Scales Los Angeles Museums Heroic Composition Vans Urgency County Barbershop

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I was 11 when I was first introduced to live drawing classes and going to art school.”

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Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I was 12 in 1989 during perestroika, when my mother found a program that sent me to Russia to study art in the forests outside of Leningrad.”

Art Mother Found Study Program Russia Forests Leningrad

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“It was probably one of the things that gave me a sense of possibility and allowed for me to see beyond the small community that I existed within. You know, I was making friends with young Soviet kids. this is during perestroika. You know, there's bread lines and vodka lines. The entire social structure of what was then the Soviet Union was radically different from what we know today.”

Knows Different Kids Today Young Social Community Lines Possibility Structure Unions Bread Soviet Within You Soviet Union Vodka Making Friends Social Structure Small Communities

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I think it was a matter of, like, I'm not going to have my kids in these wild streets. Both my twin brother and I were in art school together.”

Thinking Art Matter Kids School Together Streets Brother Twins Art School Twin Brother

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“[My twin brother] he was the star artist of the family as we - as we were growing up. He eventually lost interest and went more towards literature and then medicine and then business and so on. But for me it became something that I did well. And it felt great being able to make something look like something.”

Wells Looks Able Artist Literature Lost Stars Felt Interest Growing Up Growing Brother Medicine Twins Like Something Twin Brother

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Portraiture is something that we're all drawn to. I think primarily other forms - we prefer, by and large, to look at human beings than a bowl of fruit.”

Thinking Humans Looks Form Human Beings Fruit Bowls Portraiture

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“We're wired to be empathetic and to care about the needs of others, but also to be curious about others. And I think that's just sort of in our DNA. And so portraiture is a very human act.”

Thinking Needs Humans Care Curious Dna Empathetic Portraiture Needs Of Others

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“In high school I went to the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. And this is like Fame. It's like that sort of prototypical, dancers in the hallway, theater students, musical students, art geeks. And it was a kindergarten in the truest sense of the world: a children's garden where I was able to sort of really come into myself as an artist, as a person, sexuality issues - like, all of this became something where there was a firming-up and a knowing that went on.”

World Children Persons Art Able School Artist Knowing Issues Students Fame High School Garden Theater Musical Sexuality Dancer Los Angeles Geek County Truest Kindergarten Hallways

Author:Kehinde Wiley