Kehinde Wiley, one of the most buzzed-about names in visual arts, will be returning to St. Louis, thanks to the Saint Louis Art Museum this fall. He was the first African American artist commissioned to create an official presidential portrait – naturally of the first African American president of the United States – and will be back this fall when the “Kehinde Wiley” exhibition displays at SLAM. The free exhibition will run from October 19 – February 10, 2019 and feature 11 commissioned portraits Wiley painted of people he met while visiting our region. Wiley studied the Saint Louis Art Museum collection to identify works he would reference in the exhibition and invited people he encountered in neighborhoods in north St. Louis and Ferguson to pose for paintings. He is known for using large-scale oil paintings to depict his African American subjects as regal beings that exemplify power.
The wonderful team over at St. Louis Public Radio’s “We Live Here” podcast used excerpts from his chat with former reporter Willis Ryder Arnold. It’s certainly worth a listen. I’ve included an excerpt in case you aren’t convinced.
“It’s really important to talk about the heroic in my work because so much of the image of the black male in American society focuses on the pathetic, the downtrodden, the beleaguered. What I what I wanted to do was draw a psychological line between the pathetic and it’s opposite. The confusion between what we receive and what we want to see in art and popular culture has to be my subject matter.
The style that I’m painting in refers almost directly to the center of power in aesthetic terms to Europe. All of the major developments and depiction of power and the depiction of majesty and grace come from Western Europe and the grand traditions of Western European easel painting. I’m a fan of painting and it makes a lot of sense for me to find a way for paintings to still matter in the 21st century.”
To hear the full podcast, visit http://www.welivehere.show/posts/2018/3/1/kehinde-wiley-takes-us-to-art-church
In a wonderful twist, Amy Sherald, the African American visual artist commissioned to paint the official portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, will have her first major solo museum exhibition at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis from May 11 – August 19. For more information, call (314) 535-4660 or visit http://camstl.org.
Black talent sweeps 8th Annual Teen Talent Showcase
African American young people took home first, second and third prizes at the Fox Charitable Foundation’s 8th Annual Teen Talent Showcase Saturday night at The Fox. Nicaya Wiley, a 16-year-old junior at Kirkwood High School who some may recognize from the reality show “Dance Moms,” took first place. Along with bragging rights as St. Louis’ most talented teen, Wiley earned an $8,000 college scholarship, underwritten by Ameren Corporation Charitable Trust, thanks to her performance to “This Bitter Earth.” Dance troupe Labels earned second prize, which came with a $6,000 scholarship. Labels consists of Arielle Adams, a 16-year-old from Hazelwood Central High School; Kelsey Carnes, a 16-year-old from Francis Howell North High School; Madison Alexander, a 14-year-old from Incarnate Word Academy; DessaRae Lampkins, De’Jai Walker and Brooke Reese –17-year-olds from Hazelwood Central High School. Josh Royal, a 17-year-old from Pattonville High School took the $4,000 scholarship for 3rd place for his rendition of Michael Jackson’s “She’s Out of My Life.” The $1,000 cash Audience Choice Award went to Labels for their performance.
Wake up Mr. West
To quote famed philosopher Drake, “When I look back I might be mad that I gave this attention.” Yes, I know that Yeezy has albums to sell and his latest remarks were yet another stunt – but at the expense of our ancestors though? TMZ Sports’ Van Lathan is still getting a slow clap from me for coming from behind his work cubicle to gather Kanye West and get him all the way together when he said “slavery was a choice” during an interview with TMZ. What’s most dangerous about West’s remarks is that he has so many people arguing on his behalf – people who don’t understand the horrific systems that were in place to ensure that people remained in bondage for centuries. And the same people who are clueless about the residual trauma and systemic abuse that continues to impact black people around the world. I saw one of Ye’s disciples present Haitian revolt leader Toussaint L’Overture as his example of evidence that West had a point with his awful implications. The young man was clearly uninformed about the sacrifice L’Overture made for a freedom he never lived to see. Not only did the French kill L’Overture, Haiti’s triumph came at incredible cost – including racial terror with Haiti as justification and 200 years of reparations forced upon them by the French government. I don’t want to go full history lesson, so I’ll end here. But Van said it best when he pointed out that we are still suffering through the marginalization birthed during our centuries of enslavement – and told Kanye that his platform is too huge to be irresponsible with his false narrative.
