Today Robert and I visited the Walter Museum of Art in Baltimore. Our favorite exhibit was one called “Saint Amelie.”
SAINT AMELIE
Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977), 2014
Saint Amelie is one of a series of twelve freestanding stained glass panels by Kehinde Wiley that depict contemporary portraits of young Black residents of Brooklyn, New York. It mirrors the form, composition, figural pose, and framing of historic stained glass windows from the medieval and Renaissance periods, and specifically a window titled Saint Amelie by the French Neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867).
Wiley honors his subject, Kern Alexander, whom he used as a model in multiple works, by depicting him in a context traditionally reserved for Christian saints and religious contemplation.
Like much in Wiley’s work, Saint Amelie explores the invisibility of Black people within the traditional art historical canon.
Hand-painted stained glass, mounted on lightbox with aluminum frame.
A beautiful exhibit!
NealEnJoy 