Kehinde Wiley: Economy of Grace chronicles the development of Kehinde Wiley's eponymous portrait series – from finding his subjects on the streets of New York City to partnering with fashion house Givenchy to create haute-coture gowns for the sitters – featuring African American women for the first time. 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.”
An Economy of Grace is directed by Jeff Dupre; produced by Jeff Dupre, Jessica Chermayeff, and Ana Veselic; distributed by Show of Force.
BAMcinématek will host the New York premiere of Economy of Grace on Thursday, September 4 at 7:30pm. The screening will feature a Q&A with Wiley, Dupre, Chermayeff, and Veselic, giving the audience a glimpse into the creative process.
For more information and to purchase tickets please visit the BAM website.
PBS will premiere the documentary on television Friday, September 5 at 9pm. For more information please visit the PBS website.
The documentary has already won the Jury Prize for Best Short Documentary at this year’s SXSW, the HBO Audience Award for Best Short at the 2014 Provincetown Film Festival, and the Goethe Director’s Award at the 2014 Reel Artists Film Festival.
Photo: Jason Wythe