London: Kehinde Wiley – The world stage: Jamaica |

Stephen Friedman Gallery is currently hosting ‘The World Stage: Jamaica‘, Kehinde Wiley‘s first ever UK solo show. Wiley redefine portraiture by featuring Jamaican men and women assuming poses taken from 17th and 18th Century British portraiture. The exhibition is the first one in the ‘World Stage’ series to feature portraits of women. Reflecting on the relationship between the island and her former colonial power, Wiley is restaging history, transforming the race and gender of the traditional art-historical hero to reflect the contemporary urban environment. Intricate backgrounds and patterns contradict the sombre posturing of the subjects and allude to the bold styles of urban fashion.