Kehinde Wiley and Jean Michel Basquiat @ the Brooklyn Museum

Is Kehinde Wiley the African American Andy Warhol?  I went to his solo show at the Brooklyn Museum to find out.

He works in different media on a much larger scale for the most part.

Classical painting, rather than pop culture, seems to be his primary muse.

But Wiley isn't immune to the lure of celebrity, although I prefer his rendering of the steed to the King of Pop.

There's also a homoerotic element to his work.  He "street casts" mostly men to substitute for white guys who dominate European painting.  Who could resist a come-on like that?

Sometimes the homoeroticism is subversive.  Teammates or lovers?

Does the inclusion of a black panther patch in this portrait politicize his work?

The exhibit segregated his female subjects in a room with a stunning sculpture.

Some people criticize Wiley's technique.  Assistants paint the sometimes intricate but repetitive backgrounds of his paintings.

Jean Michel Basquiat, who hung with Andy in the 80s, doodled a lot in his notebooks.  His work couldn't be more different than Wiley's but both help make art more inclusive for black audiences in America.  It's about time.