Kehinde Wiley

Quick Facts

Full Name	Kehinde Wiley
Occupation	Painter
Date Of Birth	Feb 28, 1977(1977-02-28)
Age	47
Birthplace	Los Angeles
Country	United States
Birth City	California
Horoscope	Pisces

Kehinde Wiley Biography

Kehinde Wiley is one of the most popular and richest Painter who was born on February 28, 1977 in Los Angeles, California, United States. American painter whose portraits of African-Americans in valiant poses have won him recognition from institutions like the United Federation of Teachers, who named him the Artist of the Year in 2011. His work has been displayed in venues like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

His painting Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps is based on Jacques-Louis David‘s Napoleon Crossing the Alps.

The twins were raised by their mother; their father had returned to Nigeria. Wiley traveled to Nigeria at the age of 20 to meet his father and explore his family roots there. Wiley earned his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1999 and his MFA from Yale University, School of Art in 2001. Wiley became an artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Wiley opened a studio in Beijing, China, in 2006 to use several helpers to do brushstrokes for his paintings. Initially, outsourcing work to China had been done to cut costs but by 2012, Wiley told New York magazine that low costs was no longer the reason. Critics have long wondered about the extent to which Wiley’s paintings are painted by Wiley himself. When asked if one could visit his studio in China to watch him paint, the artist has declined. Wiley’s Beijing studio is managed by Ain Cocke, who has worked for him for close to a decade, first as a painting assistant and now as a manager. He is an accomplished painter though far less successful commercially.

His father is Nigerian and his mother is African-American.

Kehinde Wiley Net Worth

Kehinde Wiley is one of the richest Painter from United States. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Kehinde Wiley 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

He attended an art school in Russia at age 12. He earned an MFA from Yale University in 2001.

In 2011, his paintings were featured on the tops of 500 taxi cabs in New York City.

Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977) is an American portrait painter based in New York City, who is known for his highly naturalistic paintings of black people. He was commissioned in 2017 to paint a portrait of former President Barack Obama for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, which has portraits of all the US presidents. The Columbus Museum of Art, which hosted an exhibition of his work in 2007, describes his work as follows: “Wiley has gained recent acclaim for his heroic portraits which address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture.”

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Kehinde Wiley height Not available right now. Kehinde weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Kehinde Wiley Dating?

According to our records, Kehinde Wiley is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Kehinde Wiley’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Kehinde Wiley. You may help us to build the dating records for Kehinde Wiley!

In 2012, Wiley, who is known for painting men, exhibited work in Beijing including multiple paintings of women. New York magazine described his variation of Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes as standing out among the others. It described the painting as showing “a tall, elegant black woman in a long blue dress. In one hand, she holds a knife. In the other, a cleanly severed brunette female head”. Wiley said about his work: “It’s sort of a play on the ‘kill whitey’ thing”. Wiley exhibited a second similar painting, also in 2012. It also features a black woman holding a knife in one hand and a white female severed head in the other hand. The paintings are based on the Biblical story of Judith beheading Holofernes, a story of a Jewish woman beheading a male enemy general. Wiley portrayed Judith as a modern-day black woman and the beheading victim as a white woman.

Facts & Trivia

Kehinde Ranked on the list of most popular Painter. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United States. Kehinde Wiley celebrates birthday on February 28 of every year.

Wiley has kept his personal life private but acknowledges that he identifies as a gay man. Between 2014 and 2018, he created Black Rock Senegal in Yoff, an artist residence designed by Senegalese architect Abib Djenne.

What is Kehinde Wiley's most famous portrait?

• Wiley’s most famous painting is “Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps,” which directly references one of the most famous portraits of Napoleon. …
• He has even dabbled in stained glass art, producing stunning images of the black experience that are chock-full of religious imagery.

What makes Kehinde Wiley unique?

Kehinde Wiley’s portraits of African American men collate modern culture with the influence of Old Masters. Incorporating a range of vernaculars culled from art historical references, Wiley’s work melds a fluid concept of modern culture, ranging from French Rococo to today’s urban landscape.

What is Kehinde Wiley technique?

He frequently uses backlighting to emphasize the dimensionality of his figures and faces , and has enough control of his backgrounds that, despite their intensity of color, they can actually serve to push the subjects forward rather than distract from their presence.

What is Kehinde Wiley art style?

Kehinde Wiley is a contemporary African-American painter known for his distinctive portraits. His subjects are often young black men and women, rendered in a Photorealist style against densely patterned backgrounds.

Who painted Barack Obama's portrait?

President Barack Obama is a 2018 portrait of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, by the artist Kehinde Wiley for the National Portrait Gallery. It received a mixed response from the media and the public.