Iconic Portraits

Kehinde Wiley grew up in an underserved area of Los Angeles while attending schools that offered him the ability to see master works in incredible museums. Growing up with this dichotomy he felt that he wasn't being represented in the master works and paintings he saw in museums and grew up studying, and so he began creating imagery focused on people of color in iconic poses; Thusly creating a shift in how people view iconic paintings. Wiley poses his subjects with a direct nod to art-historical references (mainly renaissance) while focusing specifically on people of color. Wiley is well known for also creating Barack Obama's presidential portrait in 2018, bringing all of his well known cultural, social, and art-historical references and his very recognizable style to this contemporary presidential portrait.  

Assignment

You must create an iconic portrait in the style of Kehinde Wiley. The pose must be strong, iconic, and nod back to the poses of the renaissance. You should choose the background carefully, either focusing on it's importance to you or the subject, or for the strong design concepts. You will research renaissance paintings, poses, and ideas and photograph strong printed backgrounds to enliven your pieces.  

Steps

• First research Kehinde Wiley and his iconic portraits. Then research famous renaissance paintings and choose 5 paintings, specifically focused on the posing. Save these images to your inspiration board.
• Photograph your model in the 5 poses you chose from the paintings. 
• Photograph—or better yet, draw your own—different background images (a fabric or a wallpaper store will offer great inspiration).
• Combine the background and portrait together using blending modes or copying and bringing forward your background to overlap your model, Kehinde Wiley-style. See this tutorial for example. 

Objective: To think about art historical references and how that relates to contemporary art. Especially focused on the art of Kehinde Wiley.