Kehinde Wiley shows cancelled due to allegations of sexual misconduct

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) has canceled an upcoming exhibition by painter Kehinde Wiley after several men accused the artist of sexual misconduct. The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami have also quietly put plans to show Wiley’s work on hold.

In a statement to the Times, Wiley denied the allegations, writing: “It is disappointing that this fabrication spread by social media distracts from the goal of the tour: to shed light on the injustices that Black and brown people face in our society. These allegations are completely false and raise more questions about their credibility and motivation than there are facts to support their authenticity.”

A media representative for Mia wrote: “Mia had considered taking over the Kehinde Wiley exhibition, but due to these unfortunate allegations, we will not proceed with this presentation.”

Wiley, a South Los Angeles native, rose to international fame in 2018 with his official portrait of Barack Obama, on display at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. The painting depicts the president against a lush backdrop of chrysanthemums, jasmine, and African blue lilies. In 2021, the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens commissioned Wiley to create a response to Thomas Gainsborough’s 1770 portrait “The Blue Boy,” by far the most popular work in their collection. For a time, Wiley’s painting “A Portrait of a Young Gentleman” hung in its place.

The first allegation against Wiley surfaced in late May in an Instagram post by British-born Ghanaian artist Joseph Awuah-Darko, who founded the Noldor Artist Residency. Awuah-Darko claimed that Wiley grabbed his buttocks during a dinner in Wiley’s honor in Ghana in June 2021. He also alleged a second attack that was “far more severe and violent.”

Earlier this week, a second man, Black Lives Matter activist Derrick Ingram, claimed on Instagram that Wiley raped and sexually assaulted him in 2021. Awuah-Darko posted that claim along with those of a third man, Terrell Armistead, who claimed Wiley sexually assaulted him in his Manhattan apartment when Armistead was in his senior year of college in 2010.

Wiley’s attorney, Jennifer Barrett, issued a statement to the Times denying Armistead’s allegations.

“Mr. Awuah-Darko has found another problematic individual to join his campaign to defame Mr. Wiley. Mr. Wiley does not know who this latest accuser is. Nor does he remember ever meeting him,” she wrote. “But what is clear is that the events he describes never happened. Like Mr. Awuah-Darko, he completely fabricated this sordid story – right down to the ‘two large dogs’ he said Mr. Wiley had at the time. Although Mr. Wiley’s two Afghan Hounds were frequently mentioned in the media, he did not own them until five years after the alleged event – the first in 2015 and the second in 2017.”

Barrett attached a picture of a receipt for an Afghan puppy from 2015 and added that Wiley “intends to pursue all legal and other avenues at his disposal to defend his reputation.”

The Joslyn and Pérez art museums did not respond to requests from The Times for comment on their reasons for removing Wiley from their upcoming program, although a spokesman for Wiley said his team is working with the Joslyn museum to reschedule the exhibition.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Wiley denied Awuah-Darko and Ingram’s allegations, writing, “What motivates these individuals to make these disgusting accusations? … We live in a world where a single false social media post can destroy a person’s life, where people are tried and convicted online with no regard for the truth. This is dangerous and wrong.”