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 has created an unsettling series of prone bodies — some a product of the ravages of war, some contorted into erotic revelry, while others embody the majesty and severity of entombed saints. Wiley re-conceptualizes classical pictorial forms to create a contemporary version of monumental portraiture. The works, scaling up to 30 feet long, resound with violence, pain, and death, as well as sexual ecstasy. They portray a sense of heroism in the face of death, incorporating a scale that pushes beyond the mere corporeal and into the level of legend and hero and worship.
SELECTED WORKS 2013
Kalkidan Mashasha, 2011
Oil and gold enamel on canvas 45" x 36"
SELECTED WORKS 2013
Kalkidan Mashasha, 2011
Oil and gold enamel on canvas 45" x 36"
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