Black History Month-Artist Kehinde Wiley-Portraits

Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America, was the first African American president.  

On February 12, 2018, a portrait of Barack Obama, was installed in the The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. 

(African blue lilies represent Kenya, his father’s birthplace; jasmine stands for Hawaii, where Mr. Obama was born; chrysanthemums, the official flower of Chicago, reference the city where Mr. Obama began his political career, and where he met his wife.)

Mr. Obama chose Nigerian-American Artist Kehinde Wiley to paint his portrait. Wiley is the first African American artist to paint a presidential portrait to hang in the National Portrait Gallery. 

Wiley mostly paints portraits-pictures of people. He primarily paints pictures of black and brown young men dressed in their every day clothing, and poses them in a way that is like the people in classical European paintings of royalty and noblemen.  

His paintings elevate everyday people to royalty.

In some of his work, he reimagines an entire classical painting, with an African American subject. This is one of his most iconic portraits, which he painted of pop superstar, Michael Jackson.

 

What do Kehinde Wiley's portraits have in common? 

How can a background make a portrait more interesting? 
-more meaningful?


Draw a portrait video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXlO6ocidiY