New York-based artist Kehinde Wiley is at it again. His tendency to provoke and to polarize is alive and well in DOWN, a new series of large scale paintings on display at Deitch Projects in New York from Nov 1st to Dec. 20th. Wiley’s fascination with the recontextualization of the urban African American male is on full display in the epic series, which features various black males selected from the streets of Brooklyn. The men are then placed in iconic but often unsettling positions that recall notorious poses from the annals of art history. The inherent comedy derived from seeing young homeboys in somewhat lavish settings and sexually suggestive positions is smashed by the sense of dread and violence that hang so delicately over the paintings.

Wiley, always the provocateur, invites you to confront these paintings with an open mind, as their raw examination of racial representation and class structure is at once challenging and empowering. If you’re in town be sure to check them out.

DOWN is showing at the Deitch Projects until December 20th. Check out a preview below.

- Daniel Barna