My coworker recommended the documentary "Kehinde Wiley: an Economy of Grace" after chatting with me about art and politics. I've admired Kehinde Wiley's works ever since I first saw his paintings a few years ago. I like how he used classical painting technique juxtaposed with modern subjects and images. His paintings are very beautiful.
In the documentary, Kehinde Wiley moves his paintings to China to have the background completed by Chinese painters. Now I know all the great master painters used assistants and students to "help" finish their work, and some have an entire factory of workers producing their work.
But... why Chinese painters? Is Kehinde Wiley just exploiting cheap labor for economy of scale? Could he not find any skilled painters in the United States? I was really digging his project until the Chinese background painters showed up.
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