How does Wiley’s work form a perspective on America’s past and present?

Kehinde Wiley’s ‘Rumours of War‘ is a bronze equestrian sculpture which mimics the statue of James Ewell Brown, who was a Confederate States Army general in the mid 1800s during the American Civil War. The original statue was erected to celebrate and glorify the service of Brown and it was an indication of his authority. By replacing the subject with an anonymous black man, Wiley draws attention to the lack of distribution of power across races in past America. By recreating an old, widely famous sculpture, it is made clear that Wiley wants his audience to understand his intentions with ease. He is questioning the underrepresentation of black identity in America and purposely uses this sculpture to present the anonymous black man, who stands for the entire black population of America, as a figure of great significance. Not only does this defy the racial inequality in the 1800s, but it also combats racial stereotypes which still exist in today’s world. Wiley is determined to disprove the stereotypes that depict people of colour as violent and aggressive and ensures that their beauty and innocence is explicitly through his work. Rumours of War does this by replacing an iconically respected, honoured figure with a black man in order to make clear to the audience that people of colour deserve the same recognition and praise. This piece of art shines a light on the immorality of existing stereotypes and paints a picture of what could potentially be a harmonious future in America.