In the Galleries: Kehinde Wiley

Above: Femme piquee par un serpent, 2008. Oil on canvas, 102 x 300 in. (259.1 x 762 cm). Courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York.

Kehinde Wiley's subjects stare back at you with a direct challenge. His models are men he has plucked off the streets around the world, hip-hop stars, friends. As the lush backgrounds of his paintings envelop the models, they seem to be daring you to question the various anachronistic props and patterns, the gender-nonconforming flowering and fabrics.

The first museum survey of the prolific artist's career includes nearly 60 objects and covers his early portraits combining the street life of Harlem and the salon styles of classical European portraiture. Also on view will be his bronze busts, as well as his recent portraits of women from his series "An Economy of Grace" and his new stained-glass "paintings."

On Wednesday, January 21, 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry presented Kehinde Wiley with the US State Department Medal of Arts. The medal is awarded for substantive commitment to the US State Department's cultural diplomacy outreach through the visual arts.

Click here to read an interview with Wiley and see more of his work.

Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic, an Overview of the Prolific Artist's Career
February 20 through May 24
The Brooklyn Museum

Support the Rural Population and Serve 500 Million Peasants, 2007. Oil and enamel on canvas, 72 x 60 in. (182.9 x 152.4 cm). 21C Museum, Louisville, Ky.

Shantavia Beale II, 2012. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in. (152.4 x 121.9 cm). Collection of Ana and Lenny Gravier, courtesy Sean Kelly, New York.

Colonel Platoff on His Charger, 2007-8. Oil on canvas, 122 x 122 in. (309.9 x 309.9 cm). Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Gift of the Director's Council and Museum purchase, 2008.

Leviathan Zodiac, 2011. Oil and gold enamel on canvas, 95 3/4 x 71 3/4 in. (243.2 x 182.2 cm). Collection of Blake Byrne, Los Angeles, courtesy of Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, Calif.

Saint Remi, 2014. Stained glass, 96 x 43 1/2 in. (243.8 x 110.5 cm). Courtesy of Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris.

The Two Sisters, 2012. Oil on linen, 96 x 72 in. (243.8 x 182.9 cm). Collection of Pamela K. and William A. Royall, Jr., courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York.

Willem van Heythuysen, 2005. Oil and enamel on canvas, 96 x 72 in. (243.8 x 182.9 cm). Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Fund, 2006.14.

Anthony of Padua, 2013. Oil on canvas, 72 x 60 in. (182.9 x 152.4 cm). Seattle Art Museum; gift of the Contemporary Collectors Forum, 2013.8.

Houdon Paul-Louis, 2011. Bronze with polished stone base, 34 x 26 x 19 in. (86.4 x 66 x 48.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund and A. Augustus Healy Fund, 2012.51.

The Sisters Zenaide and Charlotte Bonaparte, 2014. Oil on linen, 83 1/2 x 63 in. (212 x 160 cm).

Arms of Nicolas Ruterius, Bishop of Arras, 2014. Stained glass, 54 x 36 1/2 in. (137.2 x 92.7 cm). Courtesy of Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris.

Conspicuous Fraud Series #1 (Eminence), 2001. Oil on canvas, 79 1/2 x 79 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. (201.3 x 201.3 x 8.3 cm). The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase made possible by a gift from Anne Ehrenkranz, 02.10.14.