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Jordan Aman, Arts Editor
April 19, 2010
Filed under Arts

Kehinde Wiley is a Los Angeles native who has made quite a name for himself in the world of portraiture. Wiley has developed a colorful style that falls into the categories of both pop art and traditional portraiture. He has combined works of the masters with imagery of pop culture, depicting images of famous musicians and athletes in the same poses and settings as the subjects in such paintings as “Count Potocki” by Jacques-Louis David or Peter Paul Rubens’ “The Capture of Juliers.”

Wiley has created a style unlike any seen before, with his intricate baroque patterns and eye catching use of color and imagery. He has reinvented the classics with works like “Three Graces” which is based off Raphael’s “Three Graces,” done in 1502. Other works include icons the likes of LL Cool J and Ice T. Wiley has made these paintings current, bringing emphasis on the masterworks of the High Renaissance and the European Renaissance. The earth tones and religious emphasis of traditional sixteenth-century paintings have been replaced by shades of neon and pop-culture icons.

Wiley attended Yale University, receiving a masters in fine art in 2001. He has since exhibited his work internationally and holds place in permanent collections of sixteen museums including the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Texas. There is no doubt Wiley is writing himself into art history with every piece he exhibits.