Kehinde Wiley's art challenges assumptions

Kehinde Wiley's work challenges assumptions. Assumptions about male virility. Assumptions about black men. Assumptions about where power is vested, and the trappings of power. As an artist, he is recognized as a superb technician of "colored paste and a hairy stick," as he puts it. But, if you think about it, his process is that of an editor ... making choices that bluntly challenge his audience to reassess deeply held and biased assumptions.

Magazine editors and art directors can learn from Kehinde Wiley. Look through any magazine rack today. Do you see the kind of spectacle, arresting symbolism and distillation of extensive knowledge that is represented in Wiley's work? He not only teaches us to challenge assumptions about the subject of our work, but to know our audience intimately, to thoughtfully analyze every choice and apply them with the purest technique for the greatest effect. It is only through a process like that that we can seize our audience, dazzle them and exceed their expectations.

No doubt now that Barack Obama has been elected president, Wiley's work will resonate even more on the world's art stage.

If you enjoyed this video there are some other great video features and interviews with Wiley on his Web site www.kehindewiley.com in the MEDIA section. The Bloomberg TV's MUSE clip is outstanding.