Kehinde Wiley's Bold, Provocative Art in Richmond, VA

THE WASHINGTON POST
By Phillip Kennicott

VIRGINIA---There’s really no point in standing up close to a painting by Kehinde Wiley, the young African American artist whose works are among the most sought-after contemporary art in the world today. His large-format paintings, full of bold colors and strong contrasts of background pattern and figuration, are arresting, but they tend to arrest you about 10 to 15 feet away. “Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic” began at the Brooklyn Museum of Art more than a year ago and has since been seen in Fort Worth and Seattle. Art historical references abound, with Wiley borrowing poses and gestures from paintings by Dutch masters, Velázquez, Holbein, Manet, Landseer and Titian. [link]

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: "Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic" (Ends September 5, 2016); 200 N Boulevard, Richmond, VA; (804)340-1400; vmfa.museum.

Kehinde Wiley’s “Saint Remi,” 2014. Stained glass. (Copyright Kehinde Wiley/Courtesy Galerie Daniel Templon)