After a three-year hiatus from the London art scene, celebrated artist Kehinde Wiley returns with his latest exhibition Fragments from the Treasure House of Darkness at the Stephen Friedman Gallery. Running from October 3 to November 9, 2024, this marks Wiley’s first solo show in the city since The Prelude at the National Gallery, and it promises to deliver an exciting new exploration of scale, identity, and power.

Wiley, renowned for his vibrant portraits of African American and African Diasporic men and women, has made a career out of challenging the conventions of classical portraiture. His signature large-scale works often subvert traditional art historical narratives by placing Black subjects in compositions typically reserved for European royalty and nobility. However, in Fragments from the Treasure House of Darkness, the artist takes a surprising turn, moving away from his monumental pieces to embrace the intimacy of miniature portraiture.

This exhibition features two multi-part paintings, alongside 60 smaller works inspired by the miniature portraits that were first popular in European royal courts of the 16th century. Historically, these tiny, deeply personal portraits symbolized love, and were often used to commemorate life’s major milestones, including births and deaths. Wiley draws on this tradition, using the miniature as a vehicle for reconsidering the relationship between size, power, and representation in art.

In a move that both honors and disrupts art history, Wiley uses the small scale to challenge the notion that grandeur and dominance are always tied to large works. From Michelangelo’s religious frescoes to Jackson Pollock’s vast canvases, Western art has often relied on imposing size to assert authority. Wiley, however, flips this idea on its head by infusing his miniature works with a sense of grandeur, showing that small can be mighty.

The artist’s subjects in this series are young men and women he encountered at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, on a single day. Captured in a mix of streetwear and traditional West African attire, these sitters represent a cross-section of contemporary Nigerian youth. Each portrait is framed within ornate floral backdrops—a signature of Wiley’s style that draws on influences ranging from French Rococo to Dutch wax prints. These vibrant, botanical backgrounds lend the works an Old Master-like quality, while the oversized oval and rectangular frames harken back to the aesthetic sensibilities of 18th-century European portraiture.

Wiley’s work is not just an aesthetic journey but also a political statement. By placing young Black subjects in compositions historically reserved for white aristocracy, he continues his mission to challenge the exclusionary narratives of art history. In Fragments from the Treasure House of Darkness, the small scale of the works further highlights this reclamation of space. What might have once been viewed as meek or insignificant is now powerful, turning the miniature into a site of resistance against racial and gender hierarchies.

Wiley’s return to London with this new body of work underscores his ongoing commitment to interrogating the structures of power and visibility. By shrinking the monumental and embracing the personal, he forces viewers to rethink the ways in which art conveys significance and authority. Through this, he brings the beauty, youth, and vibrancy of West African street culture to the forefront, continuing to elevate and celebrate those who have historically been overlooked.

As always, Wiley’s work operates on multiple levels—each portrait is not just a depiction of an individual but a broader statement on representation and identity. With Fragments from the Treasure House of Darkness, Wiley reclaims the miniature as a form of artistic power, further solidifying his place as one of the most important voices in contemporary art.

This exhibition will undoubtedly spark conversation and critical reflection on the ways in which scale, status, and subjectivity intersect in art history. For art lovers and cultural critics alike, Wiley’s Fragments from the Treasure House of Darkness is not to be missed.