1. Kehinde’s paintings are interpreted in relation to contexts drawn upon by his style of painting. i.e. the backgrounds, decorative motifs and colours are immediately linked to Renaissance portraiture due to my own previous studies of the portraiture. I recognize many of the not-so-subtle decorative elements which suggest royal or political status, an unfitting context for the figures from the ghetto (I assume) that are subject in the paintings. As said in the extract: ‘The Death of the Author’
–“such contexts constitute a primary frame which the reader cannot avoid drawing upon in interpreting the text”. (
In this case the contexts are so different yet the figures are positioned and painted in such a way that it creates overall nobility in the paintings; which is crack up! The intertextuality is apparent in everything about the painting, from the painting style to the medium used (oil paints)- my preconceived ideas about classical portraiture are subconsciously drawn upon.
2. The works relate to pluralism because there is a very clear cultural overlap, in this case between 1800’s European high art and post-modern African American culture. This cross cultural dimension the work directly addresses differences in ethnicities and in particular economic status. In a way this extent of overlap could be seen as inappropriate but that’s what pluralism is all about- ‘opening the doors to a greater representation of contemporary visual culture’ . The works challenge cultural stereotypes by placing urban African American subjects in these very prestigious, historically European backgrounds- which in turn cause us to question our own stereotyping of that ethnic group; making the work highly successful in my view. In contrast, Kehinde also does portraits with recognizable famous rap artists (i.e. Ice T and Notorious), who are highly influential people in their own right (as the politicians of the Renaissance were at the time)…hence the ideas of pluralism become quite mashed and interesting due to this fact.
References:
ALVC BOOK pg 44 & 50
http://www.art-interview.com/Issue_009/interview_Wiley_Kehinde.html
