Thioqo Gliveira Do Rosario Rozendo Study V 2012

Kehinde Wiley made this ‘Thioqo Gliveira Do Rosario Rozendo Study V’ of a young man surrounded by flowers, though I can't say exactly when, or even what he used to make it. I think about the initial marks, the first washes of color that laid the groundwork for everything else. Wiley uses such strong lines and light to give dimension to the figure but flattens him with the decorative patterns of flowers that repeat and swirl all around. He positions the man amidst a garden, regal but approachable, blurring the lines between portraiture and something more decorative. It makes me think about other paintings of people and how we are always having a conversation with artists who came before, pushing their ideas, answering their questions, or even posing new ones. We get to keep making and keep looking and keep figuring things out for ourselves.