Portrait Of John And George Soane 2013

Kehinde Wiley made this painting without a specific date using oil on canvas and it’s called "Portrait Of John And George Soane." Look at the energy in this painting! The colours are so saturated and the background pattern is just, wow, right? I'm thinking about Wiley in the studio, the way he builds these pictures, layer upon layer. There's a lot going on here – these two figures powerfully posed against that incredible floral backdrop. The painting is slick but so alive. There's an interesting tension between representation and decoration, between portraiture and pattern. And somehow, all these elements come together and make you feel something, make you think about what portraiture means today. He's pulling from the past but making something totally new. It connects with other artists playing with identity and representation. It also feels so personal; Wiley’s inviting us to rethink how we see each other.