Kehinde Wiley is an American artist renowned for his monumental portraits placing contemporary African Americans within the compositions and visual language of European Old Master paintings. He achieved particular prominence in 2018 when his official portrait of former U.S. President Barack Obama was unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. The painting was celebrated for its play on convention. Although the composition recalls earlier presidential portraits with Obama wearing a traditional black suit and sitting on a mahogany chair, Wiley has taken his subject out of a customary setting, such as an office, and placed him against an exuberant pattern of leafy greens and flowers symbolizing Kenya, Hawaii, and Chicago.
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