Resonance art is mixed with the modern at Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum. The museum unveiled a never-before-seen Kehinde Wiley piece this morning. Modern Art Curator Sienna Brown says the contemporary piece highlights more historic works at the museum.
The Philbrook painting, called Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV, was created in 2016. It shows a Black man in hip-hop attire, astride a rearing horse, in a classic 1700 setting. The work will be on display until the spring of 2018.
Wiley has been commissioned to paint the official portrait of President Obama. Originally from Los Angeles, Wiley was influenced by the city’s theatricality and by visits to the Old Master-filled Huntington Art Collections. At twelve, he visited Russia on an arts fellowship. He honed his artistic craft earning his MFA at Yale in the 1990s, where he was steeped in the current discussions concerning identity politics. He brings these varied experiences to the multi- faceted, layered processes and themes of his work.