1 of 7

Kehinde Wiley

This is Kehinde Wiley. He was born in Los Angeles, California and has a twin brother. When he was a child his mother supported his interest in art and enrolled him in art classes. Then att the age of 11, Kenhinde and his brother went to at an art school in Russia.It was here that he developed his passion for portraiture.

2 of 7

^{Kehinde is inspired by paintings called “Old Masters”. This refers to highly skilled artists in europe from the 1700’s that painted very realistic looking figures. Kehinde poses the people in his painting simililar to the way that artists did from a very long time ago while also keeping the people and the setting contemporary (meaning from this current time period.) This combination of the old and new create interesting and unique artworks.}

3 of 7

In this manner, his paintings fuse history and style in a contemporary manner. There are often bold and bright colors and patterns in Kehinde’s artworks which add to this effect.

4 of 7

In October 2017, it was announced that Wiley had been chosen by Barack Obama to paint an official portrait of the president to appear in Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Kehinde depicted Obama seated on an chair, floating among plants. Each flower painted in the background represents an special event. There is the chrysanthemum, the official flower of the city of Chicago where Obama was elected as senator, African lilies, representing Kenya for Obama's father, who passed away when he was a child, and jasmine, representing Obama's childhood in Hawaii.

5 of 7

Here are some more examples of portraits created by Kehinde Wiley. Notice the frequent use of elaborate foliage in the background and the highly detailed portraits.

6 of 7