A Night Honoring Kehinde Wiley, Black Art And Health

Source: Amref Health Africa / BFA

You can always count us in for a night that combines fine Black art, helpful health education geared specifically towards melanated folk and more than a few fashionable individuals rubbing shoulders with one another over complimentary libations.

Thankfully, that was the situation to a tee this past Saturday (May 4) in Brooklyn, New York for Amref Health Africa’s annual ArtBall – a decadent celebration of philanthropy through art, music and culture.

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The 2024 ceremony proved to be an artistic haven in every sense of the phrase, from the Sotheby’s art auction featuring eye-grabbing contemporary African art to the night’s revered honoree in attendance, famed portrait painted Kehinde Wiley. He was this year’s recipient of the annual Rees Visionary Award named after Amref Health Africa’s late founder, Dr. Thomas Rees.

Here’s more information on what the organization says about choosing artist Kehinde Wiley as its 2024 Honoree:

“Every year ArtBall honors an artist we feel has changed the discourse around African and Black art with the Rees Visionary Award. This year, we will be honoring Kehinde Wiley and celebrating ‘Black Presence,’ aligning with his focus on reclaiming the presence of Black people: our royalty, our martyrs, and our everyday lives, in the world of fine art.

Kehinde Wiley is an African-American artist best known for his portraits that render people of color in the traditional settings of Old Master paintings. Wiley’s work brings art history face-to-face with contemporary culture, using the visual rhetoric of the heroic, the powerful, the majestic, and the sublime to celebrate Black and Brown people the artist has met throughout the world. Wiley’s portraits challenge and reorient art-historical narratives, awakening complex issues that many would prefer remain muted.”

As an added bonus, Wiley accepted the prestigious honor by announced how own $700,000 donation to Amref. The night was capped off by an astounding performance dedicated to ballroom culture, including a lively emcee, vogue stars and dancers of all backgrounds presented by the talented dance collective Les Ballet Afrik.

See all the art from the auction in detail by heading to Sotheby’s, get more info on the work being done at Amref Health Africa by click here and keep scrolling to see some of our favorite looks, artists and moments from ArtBall 2024 below: