Kehinde Wiley – Portrait Master

Kehinde Wiley – Tomb of Pope Alexander VII

“Everything that I do is a self-portrait, everything I do as a way of assuaging that sense of smallness, insignificant–ness…the sense of being that poor kid from South Central Los Angeles who feels like he doesn’t quite matter as much as all those fancy kids from the fancy schools. You gotta be yourself. You gotta show up giving the world who you really are otherwise no one cares.” Kehinde Wiley from the excellent interview by @friezela.

There’s no mistaking a Kehinde Wiley painting. His portraits are instantly recognizable, thanks to his unique use of striking colors, choice of subject, extraordinary technique and gorgeous backgrounds. Wiley is a portrait master, and his paintings are highly sought after by art collectors around the world. In this article, we’ll explore the life and work of Kehinde Wiley, one of the most brilliant artists of our time.

Kehinde Wiley was born in Los Angeles, California on February 28th, 1977, son of a single mother with six kids. He grew up in South Central during the 1980s and 1990s – a decade that saw some of the most violent riots in American history. Through her passion for education, Kehinde’s mother encouraged him at 11 years old to take art classes at the conservatory at California State University, and then travel across the world to attend a sponsored art program for six months in Russia a year later.

“She wanted us to stay away from gang culture; the sense that most of my peers would end up either dead or in prison was a very real thing. So we were on buses doing five-hour round trips every weekend to go study art. That was a huge pain in the ass. My brother ended up in love with medicine and literature and business – he’s in real estate and finance now. But me, I really got the art bug.” ~ Kehinde Wiley

He was hugely influenced by legendary portraits, like Thomas Gainsborough’s “Blue Boy” at The Huntington: the clothing, colors, props, stance…many themes that eventually emerged with his own signature style in his original portraits. After graduating from the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts, he earned a BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute. He returned to New York in 1999, eventually receiving his MFA from the prestigious Yale School of Art.

Wiley’s work is heavily influenced by renowned British textile designer William Morris. Kehinde adapted the lush, vibrant designs and introduced his own versions of patterned elegance and chaos. Morris believed that art should be accessible to everyone, and that it should be used to beautify everyda