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Kehinde Wiley’s ‘Rumors of War’ Unveiled in NYC, Headed to VMFA

Photo: Ka-Man Tse for Times Square Arts Kehinde Wiley recently offered his first public work with the unveiling of "Rumors of War," a bronze sculpture first shown at Times Square in New York City. The piece was commissioned by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and will eventually be installed there. The work, with its contemporary African-American subject, stands in contrast to the Confederate statues that still populate the state that will serve as its permanent home. Wiley was our cover artist for Hi-Fructose Vol. 36.


Photo: Ka-Man Tse for Times Square Arts

Kehinde Wiley recently offered his first public work with the unveiling of “Rumors of War,” a bronze sculpture first shown at Times Square in New York City. The piece was commissioned by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and will eventually be installed there. The work, with its contemporary African-American subject, stands in contrast to the Confederate statues that still populate the state that will serve as its permanent home. Wiley was our cover artist for Hi-Fructose Vol. 36.


Photo: Ian Douglas for Times Square Arts


Photo: Ka-Man Tse for Times Square Arts


Photo: Kylie Corwin

“The installation of Rumors of War at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in December will be a historic moment for our museum and for the city of Richmond,” VMFA Director Alex Nyerges says. “We hope that the sculpture will encourage public engagement and civic discussion about who is memorialized in our nation and the significance of monuments in the context of American history. We are especially pleased that through the acquisition of this work, the monuments in Richmond will further reflect the incredible diversity of its population.”

See more of Wiley’s work on his site.

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Our 36th volume of Hi-Fructose New Contemporary Art Magazine arrives in July! Featured in our next print issue is: a major feature on art pioneer Robert Williams, the colorful installations of Pip & Pop, a review of cover artist Kehinde Wiley's new monograph, Erin M. Riley's embroidered selfies, Chiho Aoshima's solo exhibition in Seattle, Cinta Vidal Agullo's mesmerizing paintings, new works from Portland artist Blaine Fontana, the paintings of Mike Davis, a thought provoking article on the art and travels of street artist Swoon, plus reviews on the Sick Rose; featuring medical illustrations from tester-year and much more! Also, We're thrilled to present this issue's special 16-page insert section featuring Winnie Truong's beautifully strange color pencil drawings, all in one issue!
Painter Kehinde Wiley was recently chosen by former President Barack Obama to paint his official portrait for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Wiley should be familiar to Hi-Fructose readers: His work appeared on the cover of Hi-Fructose Vol. 36 and was featured in the exhibition “Turn the Page: The First 10 Years of Hi-Fructose.”
Kehinde Wiley's (Hi-Fructose Vol. 29) opulent portraiture subtly stirs the status quo. As an American artist, Wiley honed his craft in accordance with a legacy of Euro-centric art history that left him simultaneously awed and alienated. One would be hard-pressed to find a grandiose portrait of a person of color in the works of the Renaissance masters in the Met or the Louvre. This is the motivating factor of Wiley's oeuvre: to elevate images of average people of African descent through his ornate depictions, exposing the singular beauty of his subjects through dramatic compositions that evoke the Baroque period.
Francisco Pereira crafts strange creatures and vessels in bronze, extracting and blending familiar elements for something new entirely. In his world, animals that typically walk on all fours are bipeds, and their new, long legs give them an alien appearance. The Venezuelan sculptor works in scales vary greatly between works that tower over or are dwarfed by viewers.

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