A realization and a dissection of the canon gave rise to the work. But there's also a sneaking suspicion of the canon.

For me, I wanted to create something that's much more driven by a type of selfishness, a type of decadence.

I mean, the radical contingency that is - that exists and the fact that I'm going into the streets and finding random strangers any given day - who's in these streets that day?

I believe the artist is capable of contributing to the broader evolution of culture in all of its dimensions.

I like to play with the conventions around what we expect of paintings historically. But I also like to play with the conventions that you expect from a Kehinde Wiley painting, too.

What we have now is a communication ability. We have the ability to see working ideas that are going on in the great cities throughout the world and whether you live in Shanghai or you live in Sao Paulo, you have the ability of seeing and knowing the ideas of some of the greatest minds of our generation.

I grew up in South Central Los Angeles, where people are in cars.