Africa Story #1: Kehinde Wiley for Puma

April 7th, 2010 § 2 Comments

All of you who follow the fashion rags know that Africa is on the mind of a bunch of designers and I am so in love! Here is my first in a series of Africa-related short profiles. Kehinde Wiley (b. 1977) is a New York-based painter who creates light-infused portraits (á la Titian) of predominantly Gen X/Y black men ensconced in gilded rococo frames and Dutch wax-print* textile backgrounds. The Renaissance-era postures combined with the streetwise swagger of many of his subjects, suggesting the influence of Barkley Hendricks’ 1970s-era paintings and Seydou Keïta’s 1950s-era photographs, has made him a darling of the contemporary art scene. In honor of the 2010 World Cup he has partnered with Puma to present an Africa-inspired line. My feelings are mixed on the line itself but I am happy to see it.

*Those of you interested in learning a bit more about Dutch wax prints, which are used so heavily in West African clothing, please check out this video for a recent exhibit of British artist Yinka Shonibare at the National Museum of African Art.