Madonna Of The Rosary II 2007

Editor: So, this is Kehinde Wiley's "Madonna of the Rosary II" from 2007, painted in acrylic. The subject is strikingly contemporary against that ornate backdrop. It almost feels like a visual clash, but somehow it really works. What strikes you most about this piece? Curator: I find Wiley’s intentional disruption of historical power structures fascinating. By placing a contemporary Black man in a pose reminiscent of classical European religious painting, particularly the Madonna, he's engaging in a powerful act of reclamation and recontextualization. Editor: Reclamation in what sense? Curator: Think about who traditionally gets represented in Western art and who is excluded. Wiley directly confronts that legacy of exclusion by inserting Black figures into these traditionally white, Eurocentric spaces. The “Atlanta” jacket, the rosary beads…they’re markers of contemporary Black identity being deliberately woven into a narrative that has historically denied that very identity a place. Editor: So, the background too, with the orientalist dragons, adds another layer to that subversion? Curator: Precisely. Consider the history of orientalism - how the East was often represented through a biased, Western lens. Wiley plays with those visual tropes, further complicating notions of authenticity, representation, and cultural appropriation. He seems to ask us: who gets to define whose story is told? And how? Editor: I see, it's almost like a visual remix, layering different cultural signifiers to create a new narrative. I originally saw the background and clothes as simply aesthetic choices but understanding the history behind those choices has transformed how I look at it. Curator: Exactly, and that’s what makes Wiley’s work so compelling; he forces us to confront these historical and social issues through a visually arresting and contemporary lens.