Equestrian Portrait Of King Philip II 2010

Kehinde Wiley made this Equestrian Portrait of King Philip II, but it's actually Michael Jackson, in his signature hyperreal style. Wiley really lays down the paint, check out the way the light catches the gold trim of Jackson’s armour. Look closely and you can see the brushwork, each stroke building up to this shimmering surface. The whole thing is larger than life, a real power pose. But Wiley’s not just copying old masters. He’s asking questions about who gets to be a hero, and who gets left out of the picture, literally and figuratively. That combination of swagger and vulnerability reminds me of Barkley Hendricks, another painter who knew how to make a portrait sing. Both artists show us that art is never really finished, it's always talking back and forth across time.