Kehinde Wiley

When Barack Obama needed an artist for his first presidential portrait, it was no surprise that he commissioned Kehinde Wiley.

Kehinde was born in 1977, and as his Yoruba name signifies he is the second-born twin. He grew up in the predominantly Black neighbourhood of South Central LA and was classically trained in Fine Art at Yale. 

Kehinde brings together these varied cultural experiences in his work, always foregrounding Black people.

His protagonists are often based on models he finds on the street, or Black cultural icons, from Haiti to Harlem. He transforms them into figures from mythology and history – Napoleon, Judith, Yoruba deities – with all the drama and grandeur of the Old Masters. 

Although Kehinde maintains the political atheism of his art, he acknowledges the significance of his position and  practice as a Black gay artist.