The Marchioness Of Santa Cruz 2014

Kehinde Wiley made The Marchioness of Santa Cruz, with oils, showing a figure reclining in a way that feels so studied, so staged. The colours are electric, but there’s also this groundedness, something earthy in the darks and browns he uses. Look at the skin, the way it glows! You can almost feel the light bouncing off it, and it’s all done with paint, just layers and layers of subtle variations. Then there's the background. It’s so busy, so ornate, but the flowers bring an organic touch to it, a natural element that plays off the figure. It’s a flat backdrop, like wallpaper, emphasizing the figure's three-dimensionality. There’s something about the way he handles paint, the confidence of it, that reminds me of Barkley L. Hendricks. Wiley, like Hendricks, isn't afraid to play with presentation, with ideas of beauty, power, and representation. Art's not about answers, is it? It’s about questions, about seeing the world in new ways, and he definitely does that.