Beautiful Dreamer // Kehinde Wiley from Arcade44.tv on Vimeo.
You have to love the wonderful culture clash that is NYC. On any weeknight, it’s a veritable collision course of mediums, personalities and styles. This was the energy FAT discovered when he visited the Deitch Projects opening of PUMA and artist Kehinde Wiley’s new collaboration. The Legends of Unity portraits celebrate three of the superstars of African football who will all be wearing PUMA’s Unity Kit at the 2010 World Cup. The gallery also hosted the short film Of the Same Earth, depicting the making of the portraits.
With his trusty Flip in tow, FAT ran down to the SoHo gallery on the afternoon before the opening and spoke to Wiley about the project that seamlessly melds the worlds of sports, art, and fashion. As the Deitch crew finished last-minute preparations, Wiley revealed the personal side of a project that celebrates the über-event that is the World Cup. “You’ll see the global industrial trade of sports, marketing, dreams, desires,” promised Wiley, “but you’ll also see the engagement of art.”
Having already hit Berlin, London, and Paris, Legends of Unity had a 3-day stint at Deitch Projects, and is en route to Beijing and Milan. The exhibition concludes in South Africa in June for World Cup.
