Postmodern neoclassical painter Kehinde Wiley wears his vintage European aesthetic influences on his sleeve, and in “Fallen,” Wiley’s new show of massive-scale (up to 25 feet) oil paintings at downtown NYC’s Deitch Projects, his inspiration has never been more literal. Based directly on a wide variety of classical European paintings and sculptures by old masters like Diego Velasquez, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Auguste Falguiere, and Stefano Maderno, the “fallen” heroes of Wiley’s new series mimic their source poses almost exactly albeit in the ultramodern context of the urban hip-hop vernacular of urban Manhattan.



Wiley’s own explanation for the series is really quite simple: “Down is an answer to the negative views of young black men in American society. It recognizes an idiom that can be seen from a distance as a negative form transformed into something more fabulous and joyful.”




“Christian Martyr Tarcisius,” by Auguste Falguiere







“The Virgin Martyr St. Cecilia,” by Stefano Maderno












“Morpheus,” by Jean-Antoine Houdon








“Lamentation Over The Dead Christ,” by Andrea Mantegna







“Femme Piquee par un Serpent,” by Auguste Clesinger