Curated by Christophe Leribault, the exhibition Kehinde Wiley: An Archaeology of Silence is in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Collateral Event of the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Organized by institution: Musée d’Orsay, Paris and supported by TEMPLON.

The exhibition will include a collection of new monumental paintings and sculptures, expanding on his body of work DOWN from 2008. Initially inspired by Holbein’s painting The Dead Christ in the Tomb as well as historical paintings and sculptures of fallen warriors and figures in the state of repose, Wiley created an unsettling series of prone Black bodies, re-conceptualizing classical pictorial forms to create a contemporary version of monumental portraiture, resounding with violence, pain, and death, as well as ecstasy.

The exhibition is curated by Christophe Leribault, President of the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie, who organized “Kehinde Wiley: Lamentation”, Wiley’s first exhibition in France at the Petit Palais in 2016. As an art historian specializing in 19th century, Leribault has a deep connection to the art historical underpinnings of Wiley’s work.