Kehinde Wiley

Ive been pretty poor at keeping up with new exhibitions this year, something I'm trying to rectify now. At the weekend I had the pleasure of going to finally see Kehinde Wiley's work at the Stephen Friedman gallery, I've been wanting to catch him for years, but I think this is the first time he's shown in London. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! I'm in awe of his huge realistic & vivid paintings, being a print head I'm very attracted to all the pattern he uses in his work too. This time round Wiley has focused on Jamaica as his next 'World Stage' subject, tying in the historical relationship with Britain, which is something I can relate to. He's also taken on the repeat genius; William Morris, updating his prints with highly saturated colour combinations which of course I love!! Here's a few snaps from my visit, I've played with the colours to try & get a truer representation of the paintings, but it's just something that needs to be seen in the flesh to fully appreciate.

Final pic here just to give an idea of the scale- love how my friend sort of merges with the painting- she's wearing one of my prints!