For its opening night celebration, the Canadian Art Foundation's Reel Artists Film Festival (RAFF), will host the world premiere of the documentary
Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace. The film chronicles the development of Kehinde Wiley's eponymous portrait series—finding his subjects on the streets of New York City, contextualizing them in poses based on those typical of 18th- and 19th-century paintings, and partnering with fashion house Givenchy to create haute-couture gowns for the sitters—raising fundamental questions surrounding patronage and art history. As Wiley describes the series, which was first shown at Sean Kelly in May of 2012: "I am painting women in order to come to terms with the depictions of gender within the context of art history. One has to broaden the conversation.”
In honor of the opening night screening and celebration, artist Kehinde Wiley, producer Jessica Chermayeff and editor Ana Veselic will participate in a post-screening conversation on gender, portraiture, patronage and other topics explored in the work of Wiley led by Suzanne Boyd, Editor-in-Chief of
Zoomer Magazine.
An Economy of Grace is directed by Jeff Dupre; produced by Jeff Dupre, Jessica Chermayeff, and Ana Veselic; distributed by Show of Force.
For more information on the premiere and to purchase tickets please visit
the Reel Artists Film Festival's website.
Tickets are also available for a subsequent screening on February 21st, after which Kehinde Wiley will be interviewed by Julie Crooks, Doctoral Candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. For more information and to purchase tickets to this event, please visit
the Reel Artists Film Festival's website.
