Kehinde Wiley, photographed by Antoine Tempé. Kehinde Wiley (born 1977) is a New York-based portrait painter who is known for his highly naturalistic paintings of black people in heroic poses. The Columbus Museum of Art, which hosted an exhibition of his work in 2007, describes his work with the following: "Kehinde Wiley has gained recent acclaim for his heroic portraits which address the image and status of young African-American men in contemporary culture."