In this large-scale portrait, Kehinde Wiley casts a young, contemporary Black man in the role of Saint George, a soldier from a Christian legend who slayed a dragon and inspired a village to convert to Christianity. Throughout modern Western history, famous European artists, such as Raphael and Donatello, have depicted this subject. By using the large-scale format of epic portraiture and placing powerful Black figures at the center of these pictures, Wiley seeks to “quote historical sources and position young black men within the field of power.”

Wiley finds his subjects by approaching people on the street who attract his eye because of how they carry themselves in everyday life. For him, the paintings become a way to see those figures (and himself) represented in images of power: “If you look at the paintings that I love in art history, these are the paintings where great, powerful men are being celebrated on the big walls of museums throughout the world. What feels really strange is not to be able to see a reflection of myself in that world,” he has explained.
(Chad Alligood)