Kehinde Wiley – Israel
A while back I saw a Tweet from the Jewish Museum in NYC about artist Kehinde Wiley being there. Since I don’t think he’s Jewish, I was kind of surprised. I discovered his work a couple of years ago with an amazing exhibit called RECOGNIZE! at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC and became a huge fan.
His work blends the styles of European masters with hyper-realism and Hip Hop. It was just such a breathtakingly fresh vision and obvious mastery of technique that I was blown away. Since one of my favorite types of music is Jazz/Hip Hop fusion, it makes sense that I’d dig Kehinde Wiley. And how can you go wrong with this painting of LL Cool J?
So back to the Jewish Museum….it turns out Kehinde Wiley has an exhibit there called Kehinde Wiley / The World Stage: Israel. It’s part of an ongoing series of paintings he is doing exploring the cultures of different parts of the globe.
Check out the video below to get a taste of what he and the project are all about.
Oh, and if anyone can tell me how to get copies of the tracks played in the video — I’d be super grateful. I also love world-music / Hip Hop fusion!
Mini Manifesto:
Culture: I am fascinated by both culture on most levels. I mostly focus on American culture and what makes us who we are as a country, but I'm also intrigued by sub-cultures in the USA and the growing global cultural trends.
Technology: Technology is one of the strongest drivers of cultural and even spiritual changes in the last 100 years, and possibly the next 100.