Last Friday, internationally-renowned artist Kehinde Wiley recently installed his first-ever public sculpture in New York City’s bustling Times Square. Entitled ‘Rumors of War’ the towering, 28-foot-tall bronze equestrian statue portrays a young Black man rocking Nike sneakers and a hoodie. “The subject presents a powerful visual repositioning of young Black men in our public consciousness,” as per a statement.
Wiley’s inspiration for the newly-unveiled sculpture spawned in 2016 during his retrospective at Richmond’s Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. He was shocked to find out that there was a statue of the Confederate war general James Ewell Brown erected a few blocks away from his exhibition, as reported by Artnet. ‘Rumors of War’ is the 42-year-old African American artist’s response to not only the statue of Brown, but all Confederate-era monuments that seemingly glorify white supremacy and symbolize a once rebellious U.S. government who sought to perpetuate slavery.
“Art and violence have for an eternity held a strong narrative grip with each other. ‘Rumors of War’ attempts to use the language of equestrian portraiture to both embrace and subsume the fetishization of state violence,” said Wiley in a statement. “I believe that when dealing with a troubled past and arguably a beautiful future, artists should use every tool in their wheelhouse. What I try to do is say yes to certain aspects of history. And I say no to others.”
View Wiley’s ‘Rumors of War’ sculpture in the slideshow above and follow Kehinde Wiley on Instagram for immediate updates on his practice and projects.
Elsewhere in art, KAWS recently responded to the backlash over his painting of Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong.
Times Square
Broadway, 7th Avenue,
42nd and 47th Streets
Manhattan, NY 10036
Broadway, 7th Avenue,
42nd and 47th Streets
Manhattan, NY 10036
Kehinde Wiley will bring his first-ever public artwork to Times Square this fall, with creative studio UAP having announced today that they will help cast and fabricate the monumental bronze sculpture. The piece, entitled Rumors of War, will embody the usual themes of race and identity in which Wiley is known for, specifically providing commentary on the various Confederate monuments throughout the U.S.
Similar to the artist’s Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps (2005) and Officer of the Hussars (2007) paintings (the latter is pictured above), the sculpture will depict an African-American sitting regally on top of a horse. Following its unveiling in New York, the statue will make its way to the permanent collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.
“Our team of highly skilled makers have worked alongside the artist’s studio, Sean Kelly, New York and Times Square Arts to transform Kehinde Wiley’s extraordinary vision into a monumental public sculpture for Times Square,” said Daniel Tobin, founder and creative director of UAP.
Jamie Perrow, the company’s senior principal of art and design, added: “I’ve always believed one of the great virtues of public art is its perpetual ability to both stimulate new, and challenge hardened perspectives…We are proud to have fabricated this monumental project and to be associated with its significance.”
No comments:
Post a Comment