Anthony Of Padua 2013

Kehinde Wiley made this oil on canvas, *Anthony Of Padua*, using his signature blend of portraiture and ornate background patterns. I can just imagine Wiley in the studio, starting with a photo of a real person, then surrounding him with a wallpaper of flowers, a clash of high and low, street and history. He’s thinking about power, representation, and what it means to put a Black man in the place of a saint. The guy’s got an army jacket with patches, a cool chain, and Adidas track pants, but then, bam, flowers bursting out all over. It's like those Pre-Raphaelite paintings but with a hip-hop twist. Wiley’s in conversation with the whole history of portraiture, turning it on its head and making something totally new. It’s like he’s saying, "Here I am, world. Deal with it."