While this is Wiley’s first monumental public sculpture, it is a continuation of his career-long investigation of representation, race, gender, and power. The artist’s vision will be complete when the statue is installed there with the city of Richmond as its backdrop. Proudly mounted on its large stone pedestal, the bronze sculpture commemorates African American youth lost to the social and political battles being waged throughout our nation.įirst unveiled on September 27, 2019, in Times Square, where the statue has remained on view for several weeks, Rumors of War will be unveiled December 10, 2019, at VMFA, its permanent home. However, in Wiley’s sculpture, the figure is a young African American dressed in urban streetwear. As with the original sculpture, the rider strikes a heroic pose while sitting upon a muscular horse. Rumors of War takes its inspiration from the statue of Confederate Army General James Ewell Brown “J.E.B.” Stuart created by Frederick Moynihan in 1907. With Rumors of War, he expands this concept while directly engaging the national conversation around monuments and their role in perpetuating incomplete histories and inequality.Īs a direct response to the Confederate statues that line Monument Avenue in Richmond, Wiley conceived the idea for Rumors of War when he visited the city in 2016 for the opening of Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic at VMFA. Kehinde Wiley (born 1977) is an American artist known for repositioning black youth within the classical European tradition of power and status. Let’s take these fractured pieces and put them back together.” What does it feel like if you are black and walking beneath this? We come from a beautiful, fractured situation.
This story begins with my seeing the Confederate monuments.
“In these toxic times art can help us transform and give us a sense of purpose.
Photos by Travis Fullerton © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
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