Kehinde Wiley: The Yellow Wallpaper

Kehinde Wiley is an American portrait painter based in New York. In 2020 he exhibited six new works at the William Morris Gallery in 'The Yellow Wallpaper', his first solo exhibition of new works at a UK museum.

The exhibition was also Wiley's first to feature exclusively female portraits. All of the sitters were women and girls that the artist met on the streets of Dalston, east London.

The exhibition title references Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s acclaimed feminist text of the same name. The story is about a woman diagnosed with 'hysteria' and confined to her bedroom.

Wiley explained that the story ‘explores the contours of femininity and insanity.' His exhibitions seeks to 'use the language of the decorative to reconcile blackness, gender, and a beautiful and terrible past.’

Wiley's paintings depict women as autonomous, powerful and open to individual interpretation. Some of the poses he positions the sitters in reference painted portraits by European 'Old Masters'.

In this seated portrait of Melissa Thompson, the sitter's pose and hand gestures reference traditional paintings.

In this portrait of Savannah Essah the sitter looks directly out at the viewer. Her stance is confident and defiant with her left hand resting on her hip.

Savannah's hand gesture also references similar gestures in historic painted portraits. Her thumb and forefinger touch to form a ring, a symbol of perfection seen in Ancient Greek, Buddhist and Hindu sculptures.

This group portrait shows Kaya Palmer with her daughters Asia-Imani and Gabriella-Esnae. In the painting Wiley presents a modern family using poses and techniques from traditional family portraiture.

Wiley asked Kaya and her daughters to model as he was drawn to her individual style as a proud young mother. The painting shows a contemporary view of motherhood and family.

This portrait shows Mojisola Elufowoju looking directly at the viewer and holding a long spear or javelin.

Elufowoju stands in an assertive pose as the roses on the background climb up and around her. Women are often associated with roses in paintings, an image Wiley uses to challenge views of femininity.

In this full-length portrait Dorinda Essah looks calm and confident as she looks out at the viewer, the flowers from the background overlapping with her clothing.

Essah also holds a spear or javelin in this image, a direct reference to traditional 'Old Master' portraits of European military figures or chancellors holding staffs of office.

The final portrait in the series shows Quanna Noble with her hand on her hip wearing Adidas leggings and red Converse All Stars trainers.

Through placing these painted portraits of Black women on the walls of a museum, Wiley challenges traditional ideas of representation within British cultural institutions.