“As a working artist, I became increasingly aware of the patterns we see in the street and in America, becoming globalized in terms of pop culture and global and social outlook.”

American portrait painter

Kehinde Wiley is an American portrait painter based in New York City. He is known for paintings of Black subjects that rework the language of Old Master portraiture, placing contemporary figures within a tradition usually reserved for power and authority. In 2017, Wiley was commissioned to paint former U.S. President Barack Obama’s portrait for the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. The Columbus Museum of Art hosted an exhibition of his work in 2007 and described his paintings as heroic portraits that address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture.