When Kehinde Wiley Invites You for an Artist Residency

We all know Kehinde Wiley for that painting of Obama. He’s painted everyone from the President to Michael Jackson, and has been photographed with Naomi Campbell and Prince Charles of England. Probably one of the hottest artists on the planet right now, he has decided to give back, by building a studio and artist-in-residency space in Dakar, Senegal.

Being famous for painting predominantly African-American individuals, Black Rock Senegal was born out of a need to engage with Africa directly. His program in Dakar was inspired by a residency he undertook himself at Harlem’s Studio Museum, which is designed for artists of African and Latino descent.

Wiley will invite artists from across the world to work with him within the specially built space. They will also visit the studios of local artists and take trips to museums and nearby islands, to fully immerse themselves in Senegalese culture.

The inaugural residency program will run from June 2019 to February 2020 and is set within the volcanic rocks that line Dakar’s coast. Designed by Abib Djenne, the compound has a gym, pool, sauna, steam room and interiors designed by Wiley and Djenne’s daughter Fatiya, in what sounds like one of the most luxurious spaces on the planet.
 
Text by Lizzy Vartanian
Images via @kehindewiley, @blackrocksenegal