Past

Kehinde Wiley / The World Stage: Israel

Mar. 9 – Jul. 29, 2012

Contemporary American painter Kehinde Wiley’s new series The World Stage: Israel—vibrant large-scale portraits of Israeli youths from diverse ethnic and religious affiliations, each embedded in a unique background influenced by Jewish ritual objects—is featured along with the artist’s selection of traditional Jewish papercuts and textiles from the Jewish Museum’s collection.

One of the most significant young artists today, Kehinde Wiley is known for vibrant, large-scale paintings of young men, rendered in the self-confident, empowered poses typical of classical European portrait painting.

Part of a new series exploring the global diaspora, the works in The World Stage: Israel are based on photographs the artist took of men of diverse religions and ethnicities living in Israel. The detailed decorative backgrounds are based on Jewish ceremonial art. The exhibition includes 14 paintings and a selection of textiles and papercuts chosen by the artist from the Jewish Museum’s collection.

The Portraits

Wiley scouted his subjects in discos, malls, bars, and sporting venues in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Lod. The men in this series—Ethiopian and native-born Jews and Arab Israelis—express a modern sensibility that supersedes religious and ethnic affiliations. Distinctively, he places them against vivid, ornate backgrounds inspired by Jewish papercuts, an intricate form of folk and ceremonial art.

The Frames

The hand-carved wooden frames are crowned with emblems borrowed from Jewish decorative tradition: the hands of a Kohen (priest) and the Lion of Judah, symbolizing blessing, power, and majesty. Each supports a text: for the portraits of Jewish men the Ten Commandments are used. For Arab men, Wiley chose the plea of Rodney King, victim of a police beating that sparked protests in the artist’s home city of Los Angeles in 1991: “Can we all get along?”

Papercuts and Textiles

A selection of papercuts and other works of ceremonial art from the museum’s collection were chosen by Wiley and are displayed alongside the paintings, echoing the dynamic interchange between the contemporary and the traditional within the works. Wiley’s painting Alios Itzhak, recently acquired by the Jewish Museum, portrays an Ethiopian Jewish Israeli man entwined in an ornamental background based on a papercut in the museum’s collection.

The exhibition is made possible by the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, the Melva Bucksbaum Fund for Contemporary Art, and the Barbara S. Horowitz Contemporary Art Fund, with additional support from Jerome and Ellen Stern.

Installation view of Kehinde Wiley/The World Stage: Israel at the Jewish Museum, New York. Photo: Christine McMonagle.

Exhibition highlights

Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977), Alios Itzhak, 2011, The World Stage: Israel, oil and enamel on canvas, 96 x 72 in. (243.8 x 182.9 cm). The Jewish Museum, New York. Purchase: Gift of Lisa and Steven Tananbaum Family Foundation; Gift in honor of Joan Rosenbaum by the Contemporary Judaica, Fine Arts, Photography, and Traditional Judaica Acquisitions Committee Funds, 2011-31 © Kehinde Wiley; Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California
Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977), Kalkidan Mashasha, 2011, The World Stage: Israel, oil and gold enamel on canvas, 45 x 36 in. (114.3 x 91.4 cm). © Kehinde Wiley; Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California
Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977), Leviathan Zodiac, 2011, The World Stage: Israel, oil and gold enamel on canvas, 95 3/4 x 71 3/4 in. (243.2 x 182.3 cm). © Kehinde Wiley; Courtesy of Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California