Kehinde wiley 1977, Los Angeles. Lives and works in New York The work of Kehinde Wiley incorporates a range of art historical and vernacular styles, from French rococo to contemporary urban street. He collapses history and style into a uniquely contemporary vision. Wiley describes his approach as “interrogating the notion of the master painter, at once critical and complicit.” He makes figurative paintings that “quote historical sources and position young black men within that field of ‘power.’” His “slightly heroic” figures, slightly larger than life size, are depicted in poses of power and spiritual awakening. He deliberately mixes images of power and spirituality, using them as a filter in the portrayal of masculinity. The models are young men whom the artist meets on the street, mostly from 125th Street in Harlem. They are asked to assume poses from works by Titian and Tiepolo, dressed in their street clothes. Wiley does not alter the style of the clothing, changing only the color and the pattern. The viewer could easily assume that the poses derive from contemporary hip-hop attitudes, rather than Venetian Old Master paintings. Selected solo exhibitions: 2003: Deitch Projects, New York. Selected group exhibitions: 2003: New Wave, Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York; 2002 Painting as Paradox, Artists Space, New York; Mass Appeal, Gallery 101, Ottawa; Ironic/Iconic, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Black Romantic, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; 2001: It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop, Rush Arts, New York.	Passing/Posing #3, 2002. Oil on canvas, 61 x 46 cm. Courtesy The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. Passing/Posing #1 (detail), 2002. Oil on canvas, 165 x 162 cm.