Kehinde Wiley is a gay American artist. Born in Los Angeles he is renowned for his works which feature “contemporary African American men in poses taken from the annals of art history, while incorporating a distinctive use of elaborate, graphic and colorful wallpaper-like backgrounds.”(Cretique, 2011)
Wiley’s work is explicitly postmodern and provides interesting discussion on the topic of intertextuality. Intertextuality can be defined as “he relationship between texts, especially literary ones” (‘Intertextuality’, 2011) and refers to the way in which texts exist in relation to other texts. In essence intertextuality aims to acknowledge the fact that our interpretation of a text is inexplicably linked to the contexts in which the text or part of the text has been presented throughout history.
As mentioned Wiley’s work references and redefines esteemed poses from art history. His use of male African American subjects creates juxtaposition between historical art practice and recent African American/ urban culture. His work is rife with intertextuality as is evidenced most eloquently in this excerpt from the artists statement on his website: “By applying the visual vocabulary and conventions of glorification, history, wealth and prestige to the subject matter drawn from the urban fabric, the subjects and stylistic references for his paintings are juxtaposed inversions of each other, forcing ambiguity and provocative perplexity to pervade his imagery.”(Wiley, 2011) I particularly appreciated this quote as I feel it explains the nature of Wiley’s work, I feel the sense of forced ambiguity and the almost perplexing viewing experience his work provides is indicative of his powerful use of imagery to construct a social narrative.
The idea of pluralism is another postmodern ideal, which relates to Wiley’s work:
Pluralism in art can be defined as “ . . . the nature of art forms and the artist as diverse. The cultural context of art is all encompassing in its respect for the art of the world’s cultures. Pluralism honors differences within and between equitable groups while seeing their commonalities.”(Caldwell, 1999) Wiley uses the concept of pluralism to enhance the conceptual power of his works, by including a juxtaposition of historical and urban imagery, imagery which itself obviously entails vastly differing cultural perspectives, within the frame of a single art work Wiley creates a stage on which to comment on the ideology of pluralism and the fact that such diversity does not necessarily co-exist as peacefully in life as it may in the world of contemporary art.
Analyzing the concept of pluralism in Wiley’s work highlights the questions the artist raises about the ideals of social/cultural hierarchies, colonization, globalization, stereotypes and politics, which govern the dominant western worldview of our time. The stark sense of juxtaposition between the subjects of his paintings, particularly their skin color, and the historical poses and backgrounds provides a poignant comment on the way in which western culture has dominated many other cultures in the development of the world. Personally I found his works to be very evocative in this sense as I was unprepared for just how out of place the subjects of his paintings appear and how they conflict with a typical western visual hierarchy. The way in which old and new ideals of society are positioned within the work across an inter-racial background raises many socio-political questions which many audiences would prefer to avoid and in terms of intertextuality forces the viewer to consider social atrocities regarding colonization and cultural hierarchy which have been deemed acceptable by the prevailing western worldview.
Personally I really valued the experience of researching Wiley’s work.
Initially I was slightly put off by the somewhat kitsch nature of the paintings yet as I delved deeper into the contextual concepts surrounding the work I found I was inspired and deeply moved by this artists body of work.
. I also found it interesting that he does not shy away from the commercial arena of art as he has recently done a campaign with Puma in Africa for which he created portraits to promote unity through sport. (Cretique, 2011) This engagement with the advertising industry enhances the message of his works, which deal with the ideas of western consumerism infiltrating all cultures on the planet. To summise, Wiley is a master of juxtaposition and his ability to combine conceptual depth with technical skill is admirable.
References:
(“Intertextuality”, 2011). In Oxford Dictionaries.London:Oxford University Press.
Kehinde Wiley Artist Profile
Kehinde Wiley Online, Artist Statement
Kehinde Wiley Artist Profile
Caldwell. (1999) Cultural Context
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