Directed by Jeff Dupre • Documentary • With Kehinde Wiley • 2014 • 40 minutes
The artist behind Barack Obama’s presidential portrait, Kehinde Wiley is known for his vibrant, larger-than-life reinterpretations of classical portraits featuring young Black men. “Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace” follows the artist as he embarks upon an exciting new project – a series of classical portraits of Black women. Embracing serendipity and chance, Kehinde casts his models on the bustling streets of New York – highlighting Chanel, a prison guard at Riker’s Island; Shantavia, a teen mother working for her GED; Cali and Dacia, young lovers in the throws of a new romance; Treisha, an immigrant from Barbados with attitude to spare; and Ena, a nurse who hopes to one day open an art gallery of her own. Finding models is just the beginning of Wiley’s elaborate process. The artist collaborates with Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci to design gowns for his subjects to pose in, paints in his studio in Beijing and finally unveils his works at the Sean Kelly Gallery in New York for all to see. “An Economy of Grace” is an exploration of Black beauty and an intimate portrait of one of this generation’s most intriguing and accomplished visionaries.
Up Next in Painters (a collection)
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Golub: Late Works Are the Catastrophes
Directed by Jerry Blumenthal,Gordon Quinn • Documentary • With Leon Golub • 2004 • 80 minutes
Begun in 1985, the film ends with Leon Golub's death in 2004, taking us from searing images of interrogations and torture to the ironies and dark humor of old-age. Over-sized canvasses with screaming me...
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Goya: The Secret of the Shadows
Directed by David Mauas • Documentary • With Manuela B. Mena Marqués, Valeriano Bozal, Jesusa Vega, Juliet Wilson-Bareau, Mercedes Águeda Villar and José Hernández • 2011 • 77 minutes
Ramón, a fine art photographer, purchases an anonymous 19th-century portrait in Barcelona. He and the singular e...
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Kentridge and Dumas in Conversation
Directed by Catherine Meyburgh • Documentary • 2009 • 72 minutes
William Kentridge and Marlene Dumas are two of the most celebrated names in international contemporary art. In Kentridge and Dumas in Conversation, the two South African artists speak frankly about their work, their studio practice...
