Kehinde Wiley “Down” Exhibition Recap
by Eugene Kan, November 3, 2008
Characterized by his contemporary presentations of African American men in unfamiliar scenarios including “fallen warriors, saints, and classical mythology”, Kehinde Wiley recently began his third solo show at SoHo’s Deitch Projects. Seven young men from Brooklyn each posed for a series of paintings as you see a strong juxtaposition of the men’s contemporary looks against the noticeably inconsistent styles of the backdrops which reference “fallen warriors and saints that appeared in the old 18th and 19th century paintings of Holbein, Mantegna, Houdon, Maderno, Retout and Clesinger”. Among the highlights is a25 foot piece with a suggested price of $300,000 USD. The exhibition runs from now until December 20th.
Kehinde Wiley “Down” Exhibition
Deitch Projects
Tuesday – Saturday | 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
18 Wooster Street
New York City, NY
Well, the problem is he can’t stop sleeping with his models
over the past 2 years Wiley’s work has gotten pretty gay…literally…not that I’m homophobic or anything but I just wonder if his subjects realize they’re gonna get ‘gayed out’ in the final paintings…i mean geez…..look at these guys; I dont see fallen heroes here, just homo thugs in heat…..
Well, he is getting gayer
over the past 2 years Wiley’s work has gotten pretty gay…literally…not that I’m homophobic or anything but I just wonder if his subjects realize they’re gonna get ‘gayed out’ in the final paintings…i mean geez…..look at these guys; I dont see fallen heroes here, just homo thugs in heat…..
great artist, the juxtaposition of style & content wins insane points making it easily digestible, complex, provoking, and beautiful.
People jus love to discredit others work, at the end of the day he did the art work and no one else did. No one else had that vision and seen what he saw, no one was able to capture what he captured, its his art work. N yes it also is art work and its open to being critiqued…………………………………
But why arent they any stories covering your work?………….. Cause its not worthy?
^terrible critique fam. you cannot discredit his work as unoriginal. Wiley’s use of african american subjects in 17th-19th century textiles/patterns reflects early european art. Wiley is genius nonetheless, not to many artist can make oil paintings of that magnitude. i saw his work at an exhibit not to long ago and was amazed, totally in awe.
google him, homey did the works for vh1’s hip hop honors in 2005.
Narcissistic, masturbatory artist. This guy has decent technique, but his painting style is unoriginal. I don’t see anyone buying a 6-figure portrait of some Kanye West hipster wannabe. Lame. He is boring. His paintings do nothing and don’t make any kind of statement.
Kehinde Wiley is today’s “Caravaggio”
I just read an article on him in Interview, he’s seriously dope. If I had $300,000 worth of disposable income I wouldn’t hesitate to buy his work. Thanks for posting this, i think this guy will be the talk of the art world.