Author Description

Published for the artist's solo exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum, this new series of paintings by Brooklyn-based painter Kehinde Wiley (born 1977) reenvisions the museum's holdings as a starting point for succinct observations about representation throughout the history of art. Through a process of street casting starting in 2017, Wiley invited residents he met in the neighborhoods of north St. Louis and Ferguson to pose for his paintings. The artist then created portrait paintings inspired by carefully chosen artworks in the museum's permanent collection. Wiley specifically chose Ferguson, Missouri, after the city became a flashpoint for nationwide protests touching on much larger issues of race, injustice and police violence. This catalog features 11 new paintings by Kehinde Wiley and essays by Simon Kelly, Curator and Head of Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at Saint Louis Art Museum, and Hannah Klemm, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Saint Louis Art Museum.