Saint Clement 2013

Kehinde Wiley made "Saint Clement" at some point, I don't know when, and I don't know with what, but it looks like oil paint. Looking at the painting is like watching a magician pull endless scarves from their sleeve. The more you look, the more the layers reveal themselves. Wiley has this incredible ability to bring together the grittiness of street culture with the refinement of classical portraiture. The flatness of the patterned background, the texture of the red jacket, the shine on the dark fur collar, these are all so different but work together harmoniously to give the piece depth. The yellow ampersand is like a playful punctuation mark, suggesting that there's always more to the story. It reminds me of the work of Chris Ofili, another artist who fearlessly mixes the sacred and the profane. "Saint Clement" invites us to see the world as a place of infinite possibilities and untold narratives, a place where we can find beauty in unexpected places and embrace the power of art to challenge our perceptions.