Kehinde Wiley is an American portrait painter based in New York City, who is known for his highly naturalistic paintings of Black people, frequently referencing the work of Old Master paintings
The works presented in Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic raise questions about race, gender, and the politics of representation by portraying contemporary African American men and women using the conventions of traditional European portraiture.
He frequently uses backlighting to emphasize the dimensionality of his figures and faces, and has enough control of his backgrounds that, despite their intensity of color, they can actually serve to push the subjects forward rather than distract from their presence.