St. Remi, 2004. Oil on canvas in artist’s frame. 208 × 179.1 cm (82 × 70 1/2 in). Signed and dated ‘Kehinde Wiley ’04’ on the reverse.
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PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
“There is a very real economic disparity between the races in America that can’t be ignored as a subtext, a very non-subtle subtext in my work and the history of painting and certainly the history of portraiture; it’s been the story of very powerful wealthy white men deciding to portray themselves in certain ways that quite frankly is a type of propaganda, a positioning oneself in the world to engender a point of view. I’m trying to take that language and criticize it, hammering it down to some sort of corrective object. My goal is to resurrect it in the form of something that seems a bit more delightful and playful, and something not didactic or preachy, but rather quite engaging, a language that I fell in love with as a young kid who really loved painting. I want to find some way in which I can recognize truth and myself in it and the things that resonate within me and resonate within the culture. I’m attempting to engage a question, not necessarily around the history of portraiture or religious iconography and propaganda surrounding wealthy white men, or the class disparities between the rich and the poor in America, or the race disparity, but rather a type of celebration, not necessarily of the darker sides of these chaotic and sometimes discouraging actualities, but the magic that can occur when all of these different possibilities interact in some way.” (The artist in an interview with Brendan Davis in Art Interview Online Magazine, September 2007)