Five Quotes From Kehinde Wiley About Art History
And the act of looking at art in general.
If you follow contemporary art, you’re probably no stranger to Kehinde Wiley.
Even if you don’t follow contemporary art, you may know who Kehinde Wiley is. He was commissioned to paint Obama’s presidential portrait in 2017.
Wiley is a New York City-based portrait painter who has made waves in the art world by learning from and referencing the old masters with the addition of black protagonists. By doing so, it feels as though Wiley is working to place black people in history—a history they were often painted out of.
Sometimes his portraits even address the work of the old masters directly. His painting Officer of the Hussars is in direct conversation with Théodore Géricault's The Charging Chasseur.
As perhaps one of the clearest examples of an artist who definitely will be in future art history textbooks (if he isn’t already), Wiley has a lot of interesting things to say on the topic of art.
Particularly, on the importance of experiencing art—both as an artist and a viewer.
Here are five quotes from Kehinde Wiley about art:
“Art is about changing what we see in our everyday lives and representing it in such a way that it gives us hope.” — Kehinde Wiley
“If art can be at the service of anything, it's about letting us see a state of grace for those people who rarely get to be able to be seen that way.” — Kehinde Wile
“The beauty of art is that it allows you to slow down, and for a moment, things that once seemed unfamiliar become precious to you.” — Kehinde Wiley
“There is something that always will be true about painting and sculpture - that in order to really get it, you have to show up. That is something that is both sad and kind of beautiful about it. It remains analog. It remains special and irreducible.” —Kehinde Wiley
“We all look at the same object in different ways.” — Kehinde Wiley
I was not familiar with Wiley until now. I enjoy the design elements you've created to accompany his quotes, too!