Kehinde Wiley returns to Paris at Galerie Templon
From May 18 to July 20, Galerie Templon is presenting Kehinde Wiley’s newest work since his exhibition at the Petit Palais in 2016. Born in Los Angeles in 1977, Kehinde Wiley lives and works between New York, Beijing and Dakar. In 2018, pretty much everyone in the world was talking about him: he was chosen by Barack Obama to paint the President’s official portrait for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Kehinde Wiley became the first African-American artist to carry out this task. For his new Paris exhibition, the artist has unveiled a series of paintings (and a video installation) inspired by a recent stay in Tahiti. The work features the trans Mahu community of Polynesia, who have suffered exclusion ever since the region was taken over by Catholic and Protestant missionaries. With his poignant portraits, Wiley addresses the question of identity and gender in modern culture. The artist and his family were present for the opening of the exhibition, which took place in the presence of Aurélie Filippetti, Farida Khelfa and Jérôme Sans, before the evening continued at Les Bains.
