KEHINDE WILEY Shape Color Rhythm Pattern ELEMENTS AND

KEHINDE WILEY Shape, Color, Rhythm, Pattern

ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES • Shape-An area with a defined boundary within an art piece • Color-Hue • Rhythm-A combination of elements repeating in a regular arrangement • Pattern-Symbols or objects that repeat in a uniform manner

KEHINDE WILEY • Born in 1977, lives in Los Angeles • Mother encouraged his artistic abilities • At twenty, he traveled to Nigeria to meet his father • References “Old Masters” with his work, mostly paints Black Americans in regal poses • Frequently cites his sexuality as a reason for “gender-swapping” poses between male and female models • His work is characterized by his use of patterns that overlay the figures in his pieces • Instagram: @kehindewiley

INSPIRATION “I loved when I walked into LACMA as a kid and seeing Kerry James Marshall’s grand barbershop painting. But it was thrown into very sharp relief when thinking about the absence of other black images in that museum. There was something absolutely heroic and fascinating about being able to feel a certain relationship to the institution and the fact that these people happen to look like me on some level…I think it’s important to destabilize yourself, and I do it because I want to see people who look like me. ”

NAPOLEON LEADING THE ARMY OVER THE ALPS By Jacques-Louis David By Kehinde Wiley

NAPOLEON LEADING THE ARMY OVER THE ALPS • What does Wiley do to allude to David’s piece? • What color theory do you notice in this piece? • Notice the overlap of the pattern. What does this do to your sense of space? • Would you consider this an homage or plagiarism? Why?

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST IN THE WILDERNESS

TRIPLE PORTRAIT OF CHARLES I

KANCOU DIAOVNO

PORTRAIT OF A LADY

PORTRAIT OF NATASHA ZAMOR

THE THREE GRACES

YOUR ASSIGNMENT • Choose a person that you admire. Draw a portrait of them (either face or entire body) in pencil on the provided paper • Trace your hands over the piece. Make sure they overlay the person in various parts. • Erase the lines where the hands overlap to create larger shapes. Erase some parts of the person where the hands overlap them, but keep others. • Using colored pencil, create two patterns. One should be in the hands, and the other should be outside of them. One should be warm, the other cool. • Using colored pencil, add detail and color to the person you have drawn.