'The World Stage: Africa, Lagos - Dakar' features monumental new paintings by Brooklyn-based artist Kehinde Wiley, which build on Wiley's signature examination of figurative painting, drawing global inspiration from contemporary and postcolonial African art and culture.
The second exhibition in Wiley's ongoing "The World Stage" series, 'The World Stage: Africa, Lagos - Dakar' presents a series of portraits included in were created from the artist's 2007 travels in Nigeria and Senegal. After establishing a satellite studio in the locations, Wiley steeped himself in local culture, history and art, living in the areas for several months at a time. In each painting, contemporary Nigerian and Senegalese men are depicted in poses based on public sculptures that celebrate the nations' independence from colonial rule. Bold backgrounds patterned on the kaftan--traditional attire worn by West African women--envelop the stately male figures in a forest of colorful, complex designs, fusing the imagery of present-day popular culture with historical public art and indigenous patterns.
The first exhibition in Wiley's "The World Stage" series, 'The World Stage: China', was on view last year at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, with paintings based on poses from propaganda art from the Cultural Revolution. The paintings from Wiley's next stop in the series, Brazil, will be on view in both Brazil and Los Angeles this year.
Wiley received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1999 and an MFA from the Yale School of Art in 2001. His work is represented in the collections of several museums, including the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Brooklyn Museum, Denver Art Museum and Virginia Museum of Fine Art.
Kehinde Wiley: The World Stage: Africa, Lagos - Dakar
Until 3 May
Artpace
445 North Main Avenue
San Antonio, Texas
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