the Brooklyn Museum is wrapping up its mid-career retrospective of artist Kehinde Wiley — which means 14 years of work and something like 60 paintings It's been drawing a diverse and large crowd partly because Wiley's work has been featured on the TV show Empire Wiley takes contemporary figures — oftentimes young black men and women — and places them in old European art traditions: Oil paintings Wiley tells NPR's Audie Cornish that the first time he stepped into a museum as a child "It was alienating but it was fabulous at the same time because I was trying to learn how to paint And here you had images where people had spent hundreds of years trying to figure out how to coax reality into form the original painting is an old Dutch painting that depicts a man And in this particular painting that I chose to create with the exception that there is a young man that I met in the streets of Brooklyn back in 2006 and here he's wearing a velour Sean John suit pair of Timberlands — but that same sense of regal hauteur is there On why he leaves in brand names and clothing labels The brands that people wear are a serious business I remember growing up as a kid in South Central Los Angeles when people were being killed for Jordan sneakers and about the choices that manufacturers make but I think that what society does with it after it's produced is something else And the African-American community has always been expert at taking things and repurposing them toward their own ends This code-switching that exists between luxury and urban is something that was invented in the streets of America what this painting is is a portrait of a young black man He has these beaded necklaces around his neck; nothing more than a wife-beater about the choices that one has to make in order to be in a portrait of this type Cornish: It's also the antithesis of the work people may recognize .. has been a rebuke of the mug shot when it comes to black men it's an ability to say "I will be seen the way I choose to be seen." All of the models are going through our history books and deciding out of all the great portraits of the past And so I go through the studios with individuals who go through art history books and choose how they want to perform themselves On why he chooses to work in traditional forms rather than create something new My love affair with painting is bittersweet I love the history of art — you asked me about that moment that I first looked at the stuff and when I first fell in love with it It was only later that I understood that a lot of destruction and domination had to occur in order for all of this grand reality to exist What happens is the artist grows up and tries to fashion a world that's imperfect Tries to say yes to the parts that he loves and to say yes to the parts that he wants to see in the world such as black and brown bodies — like my own — in the same vocabulary as that tradition that I had learned so many years before but I don't think that it's something that I'm shying away from at all I think what we're arriving at is the meat of my project which is that discomfort is where the work shines best These inconvenient bedfellows that you're seeing all over this museum are my life's work On the gut feeling of vulnerability that informs his work What I wanted to do was to look at the powerlessness that I felt as — and continue to feel at times — as a black man in the American streets I know what it feels like to walk through the streets and how certain people respond to that body This dissonance between the world that you know and then what you mean as a symbol in public uncanny feeling of having to adjust for .. The first time I saw a Kehinde Wiley painting was out of the corner of my eye I went around the corner and found myself in front of a massive portrait of a young black man but he held a sword like a king from an old European oil painting young black women - and puts them in a pose you'd expect to see in the Louvre or the Met I met him earlier this week in New York at the Brooklyn Museum He was wearing a navy blue suit with cornsilk-yellow paisley print His mom started him with painting lessons when he was 11 Now he's getting the retrospective treatment after more than a decade of work I wanted him to tell me about that regal-looking man in the Timberland boots which is one of the first paintings in the exhibit is an old Dutch painting that depicts a man with the exception that there is a young man who I met in the streets of Brooklyn back in 2006 who chose that painting as his pose And here he's wearing a Velour Sean John suit but that same sense of regal hauteur is there CORNISH: I notice that you leave in the brands WILEY: Why take it out would be the real question The brands that people wear are serious business I remember growing up as a kid in South Central Los Angeles back in the 1980s when people were being killed for Jordan sneakers Branding says a lot about luxury and about exclusion and about the choices that manufacturers make But I think what the society does with it after it's produced is something else and the African-American community has always been expert at taking things and repurposing them towards their own ends This code switching that exists between luxury and urban is something that was invented in the streets of America CORNISH: I want to turn around to this painting behind us called the "Mugshot Study" because it doesn't look like anything else in the exhibit and talk about how this painting came to be possibly between the ages of 18 and 26 - I can't really say He has these beaded necklaces around his neck the way that I found this image was I was walking down the street in Harlem and I found this crumpled piece of paper It got me thinking about the choices that one has to make in order to be in a portrait of this type CORNISH: It's also the antithesis of the work people may recognize It's an ability to say that I will be seen the way that I choose to be seen All of the models are going through art history books and deciding out of all the great portraits in the past which ones do they feel most comfortable with CORNISH: Why use what people might consider old European art traditions when it comes to African-American art forms one of the defining features has been to create something wholly new that's the rallying call of the avant-garde - to create something wholly new CORNISH: You've been asked this question a lot And it must be frustrating (laughter) to have people.. You're getting to the heart of my love affair with art You asked me about that moment when I first looked at this stuff and when I first fell in love with it He tries to say yes to parts that he loves and to say yes to the parts that he wants to see in the world such as black and brown bodies like my own in the same vocabulary as that tradition that I had learned so many years before but I don't think that it's something that I'm shying away from it all CORNISH: When we talked to museum visitors yesterday one of them actually said that they felt as though the work resonated with them in particular because of the events from the last year the conversation about police brutality and the deaths of young black men You're not seeing something that's not there This entire body of work comes out of a sense of vulnerability and I love that you've arrived at that point because what I wanted to do was to look at the powerlessness that I felt as - and continue to feel at times I know what it feels like to walk through the streets knowing what it is to be in this body and how certain people respond to that body this dissonance between the world that you know and then what you mean as a symbol in public thank you so much for walking us through the show And best of luck with the next 14 years (laughter) His mid-career retrospective is called "A New Republic." His exhibit closes at the Brooklyn Museum Sunday Donate Get tickets Shop Exhibitions/PastKehinde Wiley: A New RepublicFebruary 20–May 24, 20151 of 11 The works presented in Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic raise questions about race, gender, and the politics of representation by portraying contemporary African American men and women using the conventions of traditional European portraiture. The exhibition includes an overview of the artist’s prolific fourteen-year career and features sixty paintings and sculptures. Wiley’s signature portraits of everyday men and women riff on specific paintings by Old Masters, replacing the European aristocrats depicted in those paintings with contemporary black subjects, drawing attention to the absence of African Americans from historical and cultural narratives. The subjects in Wiley’s paintings often wear sneakers, hoodies, and baseball caps, gear associated with hip-hop culture, and are set against contrasting ornate decorative backgrounds that evoke earlier eras and a range of cultures. Through the process of “street casting,” Wiley invites individuals, often strangers he encounters on the street, to sit for portraits. In this collaborative process, the model chooses a reproduction of a painting from a book and reenacts the pose of the painting’s figure. By inviting the subjects to select a work of art, Wiley gives them a measure of control over the way they’re portrayed. The exhibition includes a selection of Wiley’s World Stage paintings, begun in 2006, in which he takes his street casting process to other countries, widening the scope of his collaboration. Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic is organized by Eugenie Tsai, John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum. A fully illustrated catalogue published by the Brooklyn Museum and DelMonico Books • Prestel accompanies the exhibition. This exhibition is made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Grey Goose Vodka. Additional support is provided by Sotheby’s, Ana and Lenny Gravier, Sean Kelly Gallery, Stephen Friedman Gallery, John and Amy Phelan, Roberts & Tilton, and Pamela K. and William A. Royall, Jr. 200 Eastern ParkwayBrooklyn, New York 11238-6052718.638.5000Contact usClosed Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks BerryBrothers welcomed interested visitors to their greenhouses in Heythuysen and Roggel on Saturday Many people took the opportunity to visit the soft fruit company which was celebrating its 45th anniversary and also marking the opening of its new facility in Roggel The tour began at the Dekker location in Heythuysen where the company grows raspberries from May to October across 14 hectares Visitors also got a glimpse of the new 6.5-hectare raspberry plot where the variety Malaika is cultivated — a new raspberry that allows for a picking performance of five to six kilos per hour A monitoring station is used to assess water and nutrient needs Each hectare is divided into six sectors with a drain tray system The Van der Staaij family also came from Tarragona to take a look A van then transported visitors to the Roggel site the company has 15 ULO (Ultra Low Oxygen) cells These cells allow redcurrants to be stored for over seven months New blueberry sorting machine for colour and ripeness Naturally 70% of BerryBrothers' fruit is sold in open packaging Up to 50 different packaging combinations are possible A highlight was Optimum Sorting's new sorting machine which can sort blueberries by colour and ripeness The machine manufacturer has already delivered several units in the United States and BerryBrothers is the first to use one in the Netherlands Ger Zinken and Jonathan Bervoets of Optimum Sorting A combined 43 hectares of redcurrants are grown at the Roggel and Neeritter locations with another 30 hectares at the Betuwe site in Buren — bringing total redcurrant production to 1,000,000 kilos One of the innovations BerryBrothers has introduced is growing in pots which allows for even more precise water and nutrient management All of these redcurrants are harvested by hand The soft fruit specialist proudly presented its new agro-apartment in Roggel which provides accommodation for 180 seasonal workers Leisure was also taken into account — a professional gym has been installed on the premises 1,000 visitors Nijs van Zuilen looked back on the Open Day with enthusiasm but we'd already run out of pieces of flan early on so we're certain around 1,000 people came — from the local area Nijs van Zuilen (right) with Raf van Rooij and Rob Wessels of Bakker it was a great moment — just before the busy harvest season — to show people how things work here and how we house our staff Housing for seasonal workers is often portrayed negatively in the news but this was a great opportunity to show the opposite We wrapped up the day with a party for family Click here to view the photo report Frontpage photo: © Izak Heijboer | HortiDaily.com FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 HortiDaily.com HomeTributes & FuneralsView +1 PhotosDeath NoticesVAN HEYTHUYSEN The funeral service for Dawn will be held in Light lunch and refreshments will be served MANY have read about ‘Narnia’  through the fantasy novels created for children by C but did you know that we have a doorway into our very own Narnia here on the Tomaree Peninsula The new Narnia Port Stephens is the newest long day care centre and preschool in Port Stephens Or CLICK FOR ADVERT QUOTE It is a special centre that has been created for the little people in our community and steps into its third week with outstanding feedback from the community. Four year old Destiny Burgmann–Demech started preschool last week at Narnia and is settling in beautifully. “This is Destiny’s first year at preschool and she is all smiles,” Amy Demech told Bay News Of The Area. “My daughter looks forward to going to Narnia and I put that down to the beautiful atmosphere that is created at the centre and because of the kindness of the staff,” Ms Demech added. Inside Narnia are three rooms, set up to promote a calm and comfortable atmosphere with natural timber furniture and the cosy touches of home. Each room are named in line with the Narnia Theme. “Lucy’s Room” is for children 0-2 years. “The Dancing Lawn” is for children 2-4 years and “The Great Woods” offers a unique transition program. The Great Woods caters for children in the year before school and has a comprehensive transition to school program in conjunction with St Philip’s Christian College. “We are blessed to be in a location overlooking natural bushland, where we have an abundance of space outside with the children enjoying the gardens, our oversized sandpit, the water pump, bike track and other facilities,” Kelly Wallis, Director of Narnia Port Stephens, told Bay News Of The Area. “It’s an amazing design that incorporates the natural beauty of our surroundings while giving the children a sense of space, fun and adventure,” Ms Wallis said. Narnia Port Stephens has limited vacancies but since opening places are filling up quickly. An Open Day is planned on Saturday 11March from 10am to 12pm for the community to have a peek at this magical centre with an opportunity to meet the educators and teachers. Contact Narnia for more details  on 4919 5435. Your email address will not be published. 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Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); who is launching the first in a series of capsule collections with a tribute to the band’s album ‘Back in Black’ Her rock’n’roll jewellery brand Heart of Bone has become a cult brand SaveLog in or Subscribe to save articleShareCopy link Share via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this article Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe If you had asked Emma Addams who she would most like to collaborate with when she started her rock’n’roll jewellery brand Heart of Bone in 2014 with a five-month-old baby on her hip “I’m a massive fan,” says the creative director and hustler in chief of the cult Melbourne brand “AC/DC was the first concert I ever went to I just would never have thought it would be a possibility.” Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. Picture suppliedWhen the NSW Police Force welcomes the largest class of new probationary constables in 10 years at the Goulburn academy on Friday the parade commander will be wearing an extra big smile Chief Inspector David Ralph's daughter Jacqueline Ralph is among the 298 new officers in the largest class to go through the academy in 10 years Probationary Constable Ralph will become the third generation of her family to join the police force following in the footsteps of her father and grandfather The family are long-time Sutherland Shire residents and Chief Inspector Ralph has had a long involvement in policing in the St George Police Area Command he was posted to Rockdale Police Station in what was then called 12 Division he returned to the area in the second most senior role at St George Police Area Command Chief Inspector Ralph and Probationary Constable Ralph on the parade ground during their final week of drill practice ahead of the big day Picture suppliedProbationary Constable Ralph's grandfather was the first police officer in the family Chief Inspector Ralph couldn't be prouder of his daughter "Jacqui first thought about it 10 years ago but I am glad she went away and got some life experience and is now joining at the age of 32," he said there are many areas in which you can work "You have to do three years at your first command but after that you can branch out There are literally hundreds of different things you can do." Probationary Constable Ralph's grandfather Picture suppliedChief Inspector Ralph said community policing for which he has responsibility in the St George Police Area Command spreading the word and making people feel comfortable enough to come forward and give us information which may be very helpful in getting results," he said Probationary Constable Ralph has worked mainly in retail management for the last 10 years most recently in Coles Liquor at Miranda and Sans Souci Sergeant Leonard Van Heythuysen (mounted police fifth from left) during the Queen's visit to Sydney in 1954 Picture suppliedShe left the Sans Souci store in April this year to begin four months online study at Charles Sturt University followed by four months face-to-face instruction at the Goulburn academy From seeing the work done by her father and his partner Probationary Constable Ralph believes it will be a rewarding career "What has really stood out for me while I have been studying is the customer service side of policing - getting out into the community speaking to people and listening to their concerns," she said Constable Ralph's first posting is at Sutherland Shire Police Area Command Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date We care about the protection of your data. 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