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Quote by Kehinde Wiley

“I began working within the streets of Harlem, where, after graduating from Yale [University, New Haven, CT], I became the artist in residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem [New York, NY]. I wanted to know what that was about. I would actually pull people from off of the streets and ask them to come to my studio.”

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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“It became a question of taste. I have a certain taste in art history. And that - I had a huge library of art history books in my studio. And I would simply have the models go through those books with me, and we began a conversation about, like, what painting means, why we do it, why people care about it why or how it can mean or make sense today.”

People Mean Art Book Care Today Certain Painting Huge Taste Conversation Models Library Studios Make Sense Art History History Books

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“My peers at the time: you know, young black kids from off the streets of Harlem, having these conversations with me in my small, dirty little studio up in Harlem.”

Knows Littles Kids Young Black Streets Conversation Studios Dirty Peers Harlem

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“What came out of that was an intense obsession with status anxiety. So much of these portraits are about fashioning oneself into the image of perfection that ruled the day in the 18th and 19th centuries. It's an antiquated language, but I think we've inherited that language and have forwarded it to its most useful points in the 21st century.”

Thinking Language Century Anxiety Perfection Oneself Intense Obsession Portraits 21st Century 19th Century

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“My paintings at their best take that vocabulary and attempt to transpose that into a form that gives respect not only to the history of painting but also to those people who look and sound like me.”

People Giving Looks Form Sound Painting Like Me Vocabulary

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I went back to my mother's house recently and I saw some of my earlier works as a 15-year-old art student. And a lot of them were reiterations of classic works.”

Years Art Mother House Saws Students Classic Art Students

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“There's nothing shocking inherently about that, given that so much of the way that artists are taught is by copying old master paintings.”

Way Artist Given Taught Painting Masters Shocking Copying

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“I suppose in the end what shift occurred - is that at Yale I began to become more materially and conceptually aware of the mechanisms that gave rise to those types of patterns and paintings. And so the copying that happened in the childhood was a much more conscious type of copying in later years.”

Years Ends Happened Childhood Painting Type Conscious Patterns Mechanism Copying Yale

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“One of my most strong memories was studying with Mel Bochner, one of the, I think, high water marks of American conceptual art.”

Thinking Art Strong Water Memories Study Mark Conceptual Art

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Mel [Bochner] sets a very high standard. He expects only the best and most thoughtful and rigorous examinations, not only of the history of art but your own practice.”

Art Practice Standards Thoughtful Examination High Standards

Author:Kehinde Wiley

“Mel [ Bochner] held large-form meetings with students. But the stronger points came through when we had the one-on-one critiques. And that's the system that works at Yale. There's the group critiques, and then there's the one-on-one critiques that happen in studio.”

Happens Form Groups Students Stronger Meetings Studios Critique Yale One On One

Author:Kehinde Wiley