Khari Emerald Usher

Survey of Black Diasporic Art

Dr. Jared C.B. Richardson, Ph.D.
Final Essay
17 April 2024

“Double: Seeing Double: Kehinde Wiley's Portraits” by Paige Prater and Rachel May Smith

The portraits of young black men by Kehinde Wiley are composed in a way traditionally

reserved for white male historical figures in art history. These provide instructional resources to

discuss skin color and gender Identity for a K-5 audience. Age-appropriate discussions and art

references help to clear the way for critical thinking about the representation of skin color, power

dynamics, and gender. Through Wiley’s work students can develop an understanding of Western

portraiture as it relates to skin color and masculinity and form their ideas about historical art

canon.

Kehinde was born in 1977 in LA to an African American mother and Nigerian father. His

mother encouraged him to be an artist as a means to keep him off the streets and out of trouble.

Growing up without a father pushed Wiley to explore his identity as a young black man in his

local community and on a global scale. He went on to study and graduate with a MFA from San

Francisco Art Institute. Wiley appropriates Western art history with titles positions and poses of

central models. Additionally, he replicates art techniques from classical and old world artist such

as Jean-Benard Restout. In his work, Wiley replaces notable white male historical figures with

black nonprofessional models. Wiley uses a mix of traditional oil painting methods and modern

graphic elements to create duality. He juxtaposes masculinity with traditionally feminine

elements such as delicate florals and tapestry-inspired backgrounds.

 Wiley’s engagement with historical canon in Western art history blurs perceptions of past

and present, influencing the collective memory. He breaks from traditional training and reinvents

the art world, changing the course of the future for art history. Pieces placed in museums and

depicted in literature are given importance by the societies that have raised them to a level of

untouchable importance. However, in parallel, individuals can ascribe importance to pieces

widely available outside of these traditional fine arts spaces. In either case, the viewer becomes a

part of the collective and has the power to create significance. Wiley’s pieces are more accessible

to younger audiences who give his pieces significance and elevate them in society.

In Santos Dumont- The Father of Aviation III (2009), Wiley brings attention to his

historical retelling by composing the portrait after the sculpture at the Rio de Janeiro airport. The

sculpture is of a Grecian mythological character Icarus. The statue stands at the peak of the

monument to Alberto Santos Dumont, honnoring him for aviation engineering. Wiley’s model

stands, arms out stretched mirroring the statue but lacks the makeshift wings of the original.

Wiley’s model is not a professional and lacks the same significance as icarus yet both figures are

positioned to be powerful and important in their depictions. Wiley’s model is featured with a

black watch, casual briefs and shorts, and a tricolor wristband. Wiley’s composition elevates his

figure and heightens the distinction between monument and the contemporary moment. The

modern depictions remind the informed viewer to reevaluate the past and present. Keeping in

line with his style, the figure is placed on a floral designed background. The brightly colored

small flowers and leaves look fragil and delicate next to the imposing powerful figure of the

male focal point. The confidence from the man again engages with the idea of masculinity

solidifying power.
 Wiley’s work glorifies black male figures that have been misrepresented and absent from

traditional Western art history, a stark contrast from the negative and rarely featured black

subjects in most exhibitions and art spaces. European art history is essentially a history of white

men in positions of power. Wiley’s work creates a more modern and equitable history and

collective memory. In both traditional European works and Wiley’s work, masculinity is used as

a solidifier of power, however, Wiley repositions the Black man as heroic within the timeline,

affecting the changing of art history’s future canon.

Sleep (2008), appropriates the techniques of the Old World Masters. He replicates the

smooth glistening skin of his model using chiaroscuro lighting and invisible brush strokes. The

dark and supple man lays gracefully barely covered by the white sheeted sarcophogus. This piece

is modeled after Jean-Benard Restout’s 1771 painting of Morpheus, the Greek God of sleep.

Wiley’s carefully constructions the details of the figure. Muscles and limbs are executed in

exhaustive detail with the lighting creates a holy aura over the male figure. The almost sculpture

excution elevate his black model to a godly status and asserts his self-appointed authority in art

history as an artistic agent of change. Reinterpreting a powerful, classical figure continues the

theme of repositioning black men as heroic and powerdul within art history. Placed a top a dense

floral design background, this signifies the interplay between power and beauty of the past.

Wiley’s style and methodology serve as a vehicle to discuss the topics of skin color,

identity, and masculinity as they relate to art history and serve as a basis for studio activity.

Wiley’s work is both engaging and more readily available to younger viewers. Wiley features

figures from their everyday lives positioned as heroes in graphic and decorative scenes. The

sense of familiarity and relatability with these figures in Wiley’s pieces make it very digestible

for them as well.

 The concept of race and gender in Western art history is a complex topic to discuss with

younger viewers but through Wiley’s work, it becomes possible and beneficial. They develop an

informed understanding of skin color and gender as it relates to not only Western art history but

also to the world around them.The ability to see these concepts play out in both the pieces and

mirrored in the world solidify their understanding of these concepts and expands their own

interpretations. All of Wiley’s work explores the tension between masculinity and beauty, as well

as the discussion around power and painting. Children’s capacity to recognize and discuss these

topics holds significance because studies show that children exposed to and engaged in

discussion of these topics have reduced levels of prejudice (Aboud and Doyle,1996).

Wiley’s work breaks and reforms the style of Western art history portraiture. He inserts

misrepresented and under represented figures in to a place of power in an environment that they

were traditionally excluded from. The portraits of young Black men in this way can serve as an

instructional resource for a K-5 audience. This is an age appropriate way to facilitate critical

thinking in the topics of skin color, power, and gender in relation to art history. Wiley’s work

helps young viewers explore their own views and ideas around these topics and how they affect

them in their own lives and community. Wiley himself draws inspiration and reference from his

own upbringing. Evaluating his identity as a Black man in the absence of his father greately

affected his development as an artist and informed his emerging style as an artist.
 Works Cited

Prater, Paige, and Rachel May Smith. “Double: Seeing Double: Kehinde Wiley’s Portraits.” Art

Education, vol. 68, no. 6, 2015, pp. 46–53. JSTOR,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/45239774. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.