Fishermen At Sea 2017

Kehinde Wiley created this painting of fishermen at sea, and the painting embraces a kind of raw, turbulent energy. It's hard to ignore the drama of the scene, but the real story, for me, is in the way the paint is handled. Look at the churning sea – that vibrant, almost electric green. The paint is applied in thick, bold strokes, and you can almost feel the energy of the artist’s hand as they built up those waves. The texture is palpable; the waves seem to leap off the canvas! The figures are rendered with a smoother finish, but they don't detract from the dynamism and drama of the sea. There's an interesting contrast between the detailed rendering of the figures and the wild abstraction of the waves. Wiley's work often does this dance between representation and abstraction. This reminds me a little of some of J.M.W. Turner's seascapes. But I think Wiley adds a contemporary twist, challenging our notions of portraiture and representation. It's a conversation across time, showing us that art is always evolving, always asking new questions.