Weekly Artist Presentations

I am thinking about introducing a weekly unit into the curriculum for the AP Studio class at Niles West High School. This is kind of a reaction to what I see as the need for art history and criticism in the art student's experience. My goal is to spend about 10 minutes every week exploring the work of a different artist. 5 minutes for exposure, and the 5 minutes for conversation. One of the first artists that I thought about introducing is Kehinde Wiley. A New York based portrait painter, who is known for his highly naturalistic paintings of contemporary African (African-American) men in heroic poses that seem to reference the renaissance style of production.

I have had the honor of viewing one of his giant works at the contemporary museum on the Johnson County Community College campus, and it is mind blowing really. Here he is with some examples of his work. I find his focus to be really necessary in today's art world and social climate.

Kehinde at a world show opening in front of his work.

His paintings have gained recent acclaim for his heroic portraits which address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture. They often blur the boundaries between traditional and contemporary modes of representation. The works are a sort of fusion between "Old Master" style paintings, Rococo paintings, Textile art, and Urban Hip Hop.