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132 Sleep, 2022, painting
Transcript
ABRAM JACKSON: For many years now, Kehinde Wiley has been diving into western art history for inspiration. He turns it inside out and upside down, shaking out its conventions and symbolism, questioning its purpose. And he forges its elements into something new, resplendent, and completely his own. This figure’s pose echoes an 18th century French painting of a Roman god of sleep. Here’s curator Claudia Schmuckli:
CLAUDIA SCHMUCKLI: So you have this idea of the fallen angel which is asleep, that’s somewhere between, I guess, the earthly and the heavenly.
And if you think about Wiley's very purposeful rendition of his models to be looked at as both sanctified victims and survivors of systemic violence against Black people, the way that they're rendered aims at transcending that vulnerability, transcending the state in which they are depicted, and to elevate them into a heavenly state, or aura of sacredness that lies somewhere between life and death, heaven and earth.
KEHINDE WILEY: What I'm trying to do ultimately is to play with the language of power: who deserves to be on the walls of a museum? Everything is political. Art is a means through which you can point to things in the world.
ABRAM JACKSON: When you’re done in this gallery, please head out through the first doorway on the right. You’ll see a very large painting of a man in a yellow shirt – that’s our next stop.
Image: Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977), ”Sleep,” 2022. Oil on canvas, 69 15/16 x 107 15/16 in. (177.7 x 274.2 cm), Framed: 70 7/8 x 118 7/8 x 3 15/16 in. (180 x 302 x 10 cm). © Kehinde Wiley. Courtesy of Galerie Templon, Paris. Photo: Ugo Carmeni.
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By Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
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Transcript
ABRAM JACKSON: For many years now, Kehinde Wiley has been diving into western art history for inspiration. He turns it inside out and upside down, shaking out its conventions and symbolism, questioning its purpose. And he forges its elements into something new, resplendent, and completely his own. This figure’s pose echoes an 18th century French painting of a Roman god of sleep. Here’s curator Claudia Schmuckli:
CLAUDIA SCHMUCKLI: So you have this idea of the fallen angel which is asleep, that’s somewhere between, I guess, the earthly and the heavenly.
And if you think about Wiley's very purposeful rendition of his models to be looked at as both sanctified victims and survivors of systemic violence against Black people, the way that they're rendered aims at transcending that vulnerability, transcending the state in which they are depicted, and to elevate them into a heavenly state, or aura of sacredness that lies somewhere between life and death, heaven and earth.
KEHINDE WILEY: What I'm trying to do ultimately is to play with the language of power: who deserves to be on the walls of a museum? Everything is political. Art is a means through which you can point to things in the world.
ABRAM JACKSON: When you’re done in this gallery, please head out through the first doorway on the right. You’ll see a very large painting of a man in a yellow shirt – that’s our next stop.
Image: Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977), ”Sleep,” 2022. Oil on canvas, 69 15/16 x 107 15/16 in. (177.7 x 274.2 cm), Framed: 70 7/8 x 118 7/8 x 3 15/16 in. (180 x 302 x 10 cm). © Kehinde Wiley. Courtesy of Galerie Templon, Paris. Photo: Ugo Carmeni.