Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence is hosted at Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the occasion of the 59th Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Christophe Leribault(President of the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie), Kehinde’s new work continues to explore and expose the brutalities experienced by black people in America and the world. The exhibition project is titled “The Archaeology of Silence” because it seeks to uncover imagery and themes pertaining to black people all over the world that are buried beneath an oppression-induced silence.
The imagery in Kehinde’s art is typically powerful, direct and most importantly, unsettling. His art employs the figures of martyrs and fallen heroes, in a state of mortal or near-mortal repose, all bearing black or brown skin. The Archaeology of Silence contains a collection of new monumental paintings and sculptures, building on his older body of work from 2008 – “DOWN”. Kehinde Wiley Initially drew inspiration from Holbein’s painting The Dead Christ in the Tomb as well as historical paintings and sculptures of fallen warriors and figures in the state of repose. Through this, he created an unsettling but penance-provoking series of motionless lying Black bodies, re-conceptualizing classical contemporary version of epic portraiture, echoing themes of violence, pain, and death, and even ecstasy.
Amidst the grim outlooks of Wiley’s work though, inside the depiction of young Black men and women in positions of vulnerability and mortality, there is a tale of survival and resilience, exposing the beauty that can arise from the dreadful. These poses, exist as beautiful elegies, embodying a central metaphor of youth and resilience and are indicative of perseverance in the midst of cruelty.
“Nowadays, we finally speak about this violence against the Black body that was once silenced. I want to go further than just painting the spectre of police violence and state control over the bodies of young Black and Brown people”
According to Wiley, he was asked by Christophe Leribault to participate in the Venice Biennale to expand upon an exhibition that they had created at the Petit Palais in 2016. Kehinde Wiley is a recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s Medal of Arts, Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, and France’s distinction of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. He also holds a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute, an MFA from Yale University, and honorary doctorates from the Rhode Island School of Design and San Francisco Art Institute. Exhibitions all over the United States and globally have been held by Wiley, and his work is featured in collections in more than 60 public institutions around the world.
Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence is hosted at Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the occasion of the 59th Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Christophe Leribault(President of the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie), Kehinde’s new work continues to explore and expose the brutalities experienced by black people in America and the world. The exhibition project is titled “The Archaeology of Silence” because it seeks to uncover imagery and themes pertaining to black people all over the world that are buried beneath an oppression-induced silence.
The imagery in Kehinde’s art is typically powerful, direct and most importantly, unsettling. His art employs the figures of martyrs and fallen heroes, in a state of mortal or near-mortal repose, all bearing black or brown skin. The Archaeology of Silence contains a collection of new monumental paintings and sculptures, building on his older body of work from 2008 – “DOWN”. Kehinde Wiley Initially drew inspiration from Holbein’s painting The Dead Christ in the Tomb as well as historical paintings and sculptures of fallen warriors and figures in the state of repose. Through this, he created an unsettling but penance-provoking series of motionless lying Black bodies, re-conceptualizing classical contemporary version of epic portraiture, echoing themes of violence, pain, and death, and even ecstasy.
Amidst the grim outlooks of Wiley’s work though, inside the depiction of young Black men and women in positions of vulnerability and mortality, there is a tale of survival and resilience, exposing the beauty that can arise from the dreadful. These poses, exist as beautiful elegies, embodying a central metaphor of youth and resilience and are indicative of perseverance in the midst of cruelty.
“Nowadays, we finally speak about this violence against the Black body that was once silenced. I want to go further than just painting the spectre of police violence and state control over the bodies of young Black and Brown people”
According to Wiley, he was asked by Christophe Leribault to participate in the Venice Biennale to expand upon an exhibition that they had created at the Petit Palais in 2016. Kehinde Wiley is a recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s Medal of Arts, Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, and France’s distinction of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. He also holds a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute, an MFA from Yale University, and honorary doctorates from the Rhode Island School of Design and San Francisco Art Institute. Exhibitions all over the United States and globally have been held by Wiley, and his work is featured in collections in more than 60 public institutions around the world.
