BLACK ROCK BENEFIT

Black Rock Benefit

The Black Rock print releases are an annual charitable partnership between Kehinde Wiley and Black Rock Senegal, comprised of ‘Portrait of Marie Agnés Diene’ (2022), Dimietrus Study’ (2021), ‘Sharrod Hosten Study III’ (2020) and ‘Head of a Young Girl Veiled’ (2019).

“These portraits continue a theme that exists within the selection of prints I have made for Black Rock Senegal. Each addresses the complicated intersection between the masculine and the feminine, the historic and the present. Much like the Black Rock Senegal program, and the artists we welcome each year, these works draw inspiration from a beautiful and terrible past to offer a new optimism for how we can reclaim tradition to reimagine our shared future.”

“Named for the volcanic rocks that blanket its shoreline, Black Rock is a multidisciplinary artist-in-residence program founded by renowned artist Kehinde Wiley in 2019. The residency brings together international artists to live and work in Dakar, Senegal for 1-3 month stays. The Black Rock compound design was conceived by Senegalese architect Abib Djenne with interior collaboration between Wiley, Fatiya Djenne, and Aissa Dione. The complex includes a residence and studio space for Wiley along with three single-occupancy residency apartments with adjacent studio spaces. Our mission is to support new artistic creation through collaborative exchange and to incite change in the global discourse about what Africa means today.”