Kehinde Wiley Case

Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley is a portrait painter who is based in New York in United States. He was born in 1977 in Los Angeles in California State by African parents. His father was from Yoruba community in Nigeria while his mother is a black American. He developed an early interest in art and enrolled for art classes to sharpen skills. He attended San Francisco institute of arts for his Undergraduate degrees in Fine Arts and later joined Yale University where he graduated with masters in Fine Arts in the year 2001.

His famous paintings included portraits Afro-Brazilian, African-American, Ethiopian, Indian and Jewish men in heroic styles. His methods of paintings have been considered controversial by his critiques but they have been widely accepted in many parts. However, his artworks are found in majority of public collections all over the world for their outstanding features in portraying young men in heroic poses over many parts. His collections are currently found in Columbus art museum, studio museum in New York, phoenix museum of arts in phoenix Arizona State, Detroit institute of arts, Minneapolis art institute, Kansas museum of arts, Milwaukee museum of arts and Oak Park library in Illinois. He has received several awards for his works. A good example is the New York Art of the Year award which he received in October 2011.

His work has been likened to works of early portrait artists such as Ingres, Titian and Reynolds and has been hosted for exhibition by various accredited national museums like the Columbus museum of art. He has created a great integration of styles which ranges from the Islamic arts to Christian and Jewish architecture. He paints portraits based on young men who he observes in the streets.

Kehindi Wiley has been doing art projects and opening studios in different countries to facilitate wide distribution of his artworks in different parts of the world.