The Nero Chronicles: Of Wiley Ways and a Mug Maestro

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Of Wiley Ways and a Mug Maestro

Nero has long been a gushing fan of the work of artist Kehinde Wiley, whose piercing paintings and sculptures fast-forward the staid and classically elite art of portraiture, translating it through unrelenting color and curlicue, into a modern narrative of essence and being and beauty, born of the mingling of exuberant street culture and figurative storytelling. The May issue of WSJ Magazine profiles Wiley's trajectory from one of six children born to a single mother in South Central L.A., through DIY furniture restoration and on to Russian forests, Nigeria, China and beyond, to become one of the most recognizable and acclaimed artists of our time. Though Wiley's oeuvre is redolent with social commentary and symbolism, often sparking heated discussions about dead white males, essentialisms, the Western gaze, and viewers' interpretations of Otherness, what Nero finds most magnetic about the pieces stems from a more instinctual and perhaps sophomoric place -- it is glorious to look at, to enjoy, to admire, to absorb, to learn from. The colors and motifs invoke a sort of happy rejoicing, the subjects are often rendered like latterday Russian icons and yet feel approachable and real. The paintings uplift, they resonate -- mix metaphors. Indeed Wiley's art is the stuff of modern life, where Orientalism meets Ohm, where Kente cloth cozies up to a street cavalier, where Brazilian footballers sport Baby Phat.

2 comments:

helen tilston said...: Hello Alcira

Thank you for featuring Kehinde Wiley. A most accomplished artist. His mother deserves applause for having such vision and ensuring his education.What a fabulous opportunity for him to have studied in St. Petersburg and then to top it off with a Master at Yale. I love his work and the wallpaper behind the images and how he happily trails a vine around his subject.

Thanks for an enlightening post.

Helen xx; April 28, 2012 at 3:58 PM
Catherine said...: I know him! (not in real life, but his paintings!) I've seen them at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond and at the Nasher Museum at Duke. I love his point of view!; April 28, 2012 at 5:56 PM