Rumours of war by Kehinde Wiley is a statue of a black man riding a horse. Statues are symbolic of Society and what is important in them. Kehinde Wiley challenges the representation of black men in art and society by placing them in positions of power. This artwork was partially inspired by the confederate statues which are erected on Monument Avenue. During the US civil war when the confederacy and Northern USA states argued about the abolition of slaves. Confederate statues honour the individuals who helped support the slave trade. In recent years the question of the removal these statues due to their racist history and symbolism has been in the spotlight. In 2020 with the murder of George Floyd many statues have been torn down. Wiley changes the conversation by adding new statues rather than only discussing removing them.

Personally, I feel that statues which represent racist individuals should not be commemorated in public spaces. Many believe that removing statues reduce and try to hide the history of the country or constrain people’s freedom of speech. However removing a statue isn’t going to change a high school curriculum, rather make individuals in the society more comfortable. When these statues stay up they can become symbols of racism. Removing a statue with bad sentiments doesn’t mean that history is being changed however it shows that we longer stand for such things and are moving ahead. The idea of not judging people based on current values is valid, however, we are living in the present, there is no need for these statues anymore, read about them in history books. I like that Kehinde Wiley created new works challenging these ideas, I think new art is crucial for shifting the conversation to what we as a collective do want to commemorate.