Uploaded February 2022 | Updated September 2026, 51 minutes ago
Kehinde Wiley’s portraits of Black men and women blend the visual rhetoric of history painting with Western urban aesthetics. During a residency in Rio de Janeiro, Wiley created Thiogo Oliveira do Rosario Rozendo from the The World Stage: Brazil series, in which young men from the favelas (Brazilian Portuguese for “slum”) pose as figures from public monuments placed throughout the city. In this portrait, the young man wears clothing associated with hip-hop culture against a background of mesmerizing decorative pattern.
Visit the High Museum: high.org
Kehinde Wiley’s portraits of Black men and women blend the visual rhetoric of history painting with Western urban aesthetics. During a residency in Rio de Janeiro, Wiley created Thiogo Oliveira do Rosario Rozendo from the The World Stage: Brazil series, in which young men from the favelas (Brazilian Portuguese for “slum”) pose as figures from public monuments placed throughout the city. In this portrait, the young man wears clothing associated with hip-hop culture against a background of mesmerizing decorative pattern.
Visit the High Museum: high.org
