There's something really cool about taking oily coloured paste and pushing it around with these hairy sticks and making something that looks like you. That's the magic of painting.
Kehinde WileyRead
My work is not about paint. It's about paint at the service of something else. It is not about gooey, chest-beating, macho '50s abstraction that allows paint to sit up on the surface as subject matter about paint.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes that art should serve a deeper purpose rather than simply being about the medium itself.
Kehinde Wiley suggests that true art transcends the materials used and focuses on conveying deeper messages, ideas, or themes. He criticizes the notion of art that is overly focused on aesthetics or the physical properties of paint, advocating instead for works that resonate with social, cultural, or political narratives.
Themes
ArtMeaningPurposeExpressionSocial Commentary
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about contemporary art, one might reference this quote to explain the significance of message over medium.
More from Kehinde Wiley
All quotes →This idea that my work is about hip-hop is a little reductive. What I'm interested in is the performance of masculinity, the performance of ethnicity, and how they intermingle across cultures.
Kehinde WileyRead
What is portraiture? It's choice. It's the ability to position your body in the world for the world to celebrate you on your own terms.
Kehinde WileyRead
The ability to be the first African-American painter to paint the first African-American president of the United States is absolutely overwhelming. It doesn't get any better than that.
Kehinde WileyRead
Painting is about the world that we live in. Black men live in the world. My choice is to include them.
Kehinde WileyRead
What I try to do is defy expectations in terms of boundaries, whether it is high or low art, pop culture, or fine-art culture. My work is about reconciling myriad cultural influences and bringing them into one picture.
Kehinde WileyRead
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