Kehinde Wiley at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

CultureStyle

Jan 11

Over the holidays I visited three of the greater Art Museums in all of America. Fort Worth boasts three significant museums within a few block's radius in what's aptly called the Arts District. I will be presenting each in three upcoming posts including this, featuring the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

-Oldest Museum in Texas. Dedicated to collecting, presenting, and interpreting international developments in post–World War II art in all media.
-Chartered in 1892, going through several name changes until being name Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in 1987
-Architect, Tadao Ando

The Exhibit, 'Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic'

I first saw the works of Kehinde Wiley when I entered Kendall College of Art and Design. Way back in 2007 I was in awe of his work but did little in researching or understanding the body of work or the man who created it.

photograph by Chad Batka for the New York Times

Shortly after earning an MFA from Yale, Kehinde stormed the art world with his signature imagery of black men and women set against the backgrounds of ornate tapestry or in place of the figure in an Old Master painting.

The paintings take on overt political and social overtones. Kehinde is open and unashamed of his championing of black people in painting. Where the Western world has consistently excluded black men and women from painting, Kehinde has flipped the script and drawn attention to the terribly obvious omission.

My intent here is not to give a complete synopsis of the artist or an in depth take on the Museum but to make an introduction, one that hopefully entreats you to discover more about this important artist and institution. Get a quick, but more in depth overview here- Kehinde Wiley, and here- Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

The Modern does not allow photography inside traveling exhibits but they do allow photography of their permanent collection. Franz Kline and Motherwell are two of my greatest inspirations, so standing in front of these masterpieces by Motherwell at the Modern was an opportunity I couldn't miss.