Hunger 2008

Curator: Kehinde Wiley’s "Hunger" from 2008 is a feast for the eyes, oil paint that brings the present squarely into conversation with art historical tropes. What strikes you right away? Editor: The dynamism! It’s bold, maybe even a little dizzying. That vibrant, repeating floral pattern clashes, but somehow also gels with, these young Black men. The postures feel pulled from another time, almost regal, but their clothes root them in the contemporary. Curator: Exactly. Wiley’s art hinges on that contrast, placing figures from the streets into poses lifted from historical portraits, often Old Masters. It’s like a remix. Here, he’s playing with ideas of power, visibility, and even appropriation, in art history and beyond. It begs the question: Who gets to be monumentalized? Editor: It makes me think about who’s been written out of these grand narratives. That wallpaper isn’t just decorative; it’s assertive. It nearly overwhelms the figures. Curator: And I’m wondering how the background and its flattening effect reference Warhol's pop art aesthetic, yet subverting it too? Those patterns act as both an empowering backdrop and an aesthetic trap. What’s truly mesmerizing is how Wiley navigates those tensions with such grace. There’s a confidence there, wouldn’t you say? Editor: Absolutely. And the figures themselves, they have this knowing gaze. As viewers, we're positioned not as passive observers but almost like participants in their story, whatever that story might be. There’s a vulnerability and a strength in the portrait. Wiley always seems to remind us that everything is contextual, shifting. Even our understanding of hunger is bound to what we lack. Curator: A thought to savour...and, I’d suggest, one of the many compelling layers interwoven into Wiley's stunning piece.