Artworks

Conspicuous Fraud Series #1 (Eminence), 2001

  • Artist

    Kehinde Wiley

  • Title

    Conspicuous Fraud Series #1 (Eminence)

  • Date

    2001

  • Medium

    Oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    72 1/2 × 72 1/2 in. (184.2 × 184.2 cm) Frame: 79 1/4 × 79 1/4 × 3 1/4 in. (201.3 × 201.3 × 8.3 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase made possible by a gift from Anne Ehrenkranz

  • Object Number

    2002.10.14

Kehinde Wiley draws from the history of portraiture to situate people of African descent within the art historical canon. In Conspicuous Fraud Series #1 (Eminence), created early in his career, the figure’s hair serves as a decorative motif and backdrop that twists and extends throughout the canvas. The man consequently occupies an abundance of physical space in the composition and, symbolically, claims space within an art historical narrative from which Black men are often excluded.


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Artworks

Conspicuous Fraud Series #1 (Eminence), 2001

  • Artist

    Kehinde Wiley

  • Title

    Conspicuous Fraud Series #1 (Eminence)

  • Date

    2001

  • Medium

    Oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    72 1/2 × 72 1/2 in. (184.2 × 184.2 cm) Frame: 79 1/4 × 79 1/4 × 3 1/4 in. (201.3 × 201.3 × 8.3 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase made possible by a gift from Anne Ehrenkranz

  • Object Number

    2002.10.14

Kehinde Wiley draws from the history of portraiture to situate people of African descent within the art historical canon. In Conspicuous Fraud Series #1 (Eminence), created early in his career, the figure’s hair serves as a decorative motif and backdrop that twists and extends throughout the canvas. The man consequently occupies an abundance of physical space in the composition and, symbolically, claims space within an art historical narrative from which Black men are often excluded.


Explore further