Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley is a celebrated American painter known for his vibrant, large-scale portraits that place contemporary Black subjects in poses and settings traditionally reserved for European aristocracy and religious iconography. Based in Los Angeles and New York, Wiley reinterprets the visual language of Old Masters with meticulous detail, lush backgrounds, and powerful compositions that challenge historical narratives of power, race, and representation in Western art. His subjects—often everyday individuals chosen through street casting—are rendered with dignity and grandeur, asserting visibility and agency. Wiley gained international recognition for his official portrait of President Barack Obama, unveiled at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in 2018.