Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Kehinde Wiley

Quote by Kehinde Wiley

“So much of my work is defined by the difference between the figure in the foreground and the background. Very early in my career, I asked myself, "What is that difference?" I started looking at the way that a figure in the foreground works in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European paintings and saw how much has to do with what the figure owns or possesses. I wanted to break away from that sense in which there's the house, the wife, and the cattle, all depicted in equal measure behind the sitter.”

Quote by Kehinde Wiley

Create image

Author

Kehinde Wiley
Kehinde Wiley

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

You May Also Like

“I enjoy Chicago as one of the great American cities. When I come here and take a taxi from the airport, I meet a young man from Somalia. I meet a young man from Eritrea who engages with this nation with a sense of hope and a sense of desire. But we also we know that there are other elements of this nation that are toxic.”

KnowsMenYoungDesireNationsEnjoyCitiesElementsYoung ManChicagoToxicAirportsTaxiGreat AmericanAmerican CitiesSomaliaEritrea
Author:Kehinde Wiley
Create image

“When we talk about Orientalist painting, we're talking about painting generally from the seventeenth through the nineteenth century, and some would say even into the twentieth, that allows Europe to look at Africa, Asia Minor, or East Asia in a way that's revelatory but also as a place in which you can empty yourself out. A place in which there is no place. It's an emptiness and a location at once.”

WayLooksTalkingCenturyPaintingEuropeEmptyEastEmptinessMinorsLocationAsiaNineteenth CenturyEast Asia
Author:Kehinde Wiley
Create image

“Let's talk about the artist's desire to go beyond the pictorial or the representational and the desire to create the abstract - the idea that painting can go beyond what is seen. What we found is that, increasingly, painting became about paint, its own material truth. When I'm talking about the way that we look at others and the way that we see ourselves increasingly, looking at others becomes its own material truth.”

WayLooksIdeasDesireArtistFoundTalkingPaintingMaterialsPaintAbstractPictorial
Author:Kehinde Wiley
Create image