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Kehinde, Puma, and Africa Unite.
“There must be a way of engaging that,” Kehinde Wiley says of the varying colors of African soil, “as a swatch within the painting.” To fuel inspiration for the paintings in the “Legends of Unity” series, Kehinde Wiley visited the continent. In addition to the land itself, Wiley found inspiration in African clothing, art, and lifestyle. “In Africa,” Wiley says, “I tried to totally immerse myself in the culture for inspiration.” The results of Wiley’s intense engagement are four larger-than-life works.
Sameul Eto’o (Cameron), John Mensah (Ghana), and Emmanuel Eboué (Ivory Coast)--all world famous soccer players—are the subjects of Wiley’s massive paintings. At nearly six feet tall, the individual portraits of each of these players explode with color and pattern, Wiley’s signature hyper-realistic style. The fourth painting is a nine-by-twelve foot unity painting. This piece was inspired by an African cowry sculpture and features the three players with their arms linked as a symbol of the unity of African countries.
As a representative for Society HAE, I joined a throng of Wiley enthusiasts for an advance preview of the series. Standing before the vibrant, wall-sized canvases made me feel both dwarfed and awe-struck. Highlighting the night was a performance by Zozo Afrobeat, who performed some of Fela Kuti's greatest hits.
Puma, who sponsors twelve African soccer teams, commissioned Wiley for the “Legends of Unity” series. In the “Unity Portrait,” the players are wearing Puma’s Unity kit—a limited edition uniform designed to be worn by all the African teams. The “Legends of Unity” exhibit opened in Berlin in January of 2010. It will be opening at New York’s Deitch Gallery (18 Wooster Street) from February 18-19. The exhibit will tour several other international cities, including Beijing and Milan, before ending up in South Africa.
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Comment by Shevon Gant on February 19, 2010 at 12:52pm -
wow, Thanks for this post. I would love to see this. I had a chance to view his work a while back at his show in the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
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Comment by James Guilford on February 19, 2010 at 1:18pm -
The work was extraordinary as usually. The exclusive sneak peak at the African-inspired Puma gear was cool, too. Deitch Gallery at 18 Wooster will be showing from noon-8PM today.
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Comment by Nikkea on February 20, 2010 at 9:03am -
Thank you, thank you, thank you for providing this information!!! Words can't describe how talented this man is when it comes to art. I was blown away by his last exhibit at the Deitch Gallery and look forward to he upcoming event in February.
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Comment by James Guilford on February 20, 2010 at 11:28am
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Shevon, if you miss it in NY, the show will also be in Beijing (if you want to just jet on over--lol).
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