Kehinde Wiley at the National Gallery - 'Saying Yes to Us'

My latest review for Church Times is of Kehinde Wiley at the National Gallery The Prelude:

'Mountains have often been depicted as places for encounter with God, and the film, as also the paintings based on Friedrich’s images, frequently reference the Romantic wanderer figure in search of spirituality or self-discovery.

The title of the film refers to William Wordsworth’s autobiographical poem The Prelude, and his “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” is quoted, together with Thoreau’s Walden and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature. Emerson’s line that “We are as much strangers in nature, as we are aliens from God” sums up much of a film whose character are, by turns, overwhelmed by snow, and subsumed by whiteness, so that they almost disappear in the landscape.

In this way, Wiley achieves a dual focus, reflecting the overwhelming reach of white supremacy, while also acknowledging humanity’s fragile relationship with nature, currently and most significantly regarding climate change.'

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here.

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The Staple Singers - The Gardener.