This limited edition deck of cards features Kehinde Wiley’s 2008 paintingMorpheus, reimagined from the Jean-Antoine Houdon 1777 marble sculpture of the same name. Featured in the 2008 exhibition “Down” at Deitch Projects, the series references and re-conceptualizes classic pictorial forms of heroism in the face of death.Morpheusfeatures a model from Brooklyn, lain across a white sheet while florals from the background spring into life around his body. Unlike its 18th century counterpart, he addresses onlookers with direct eye contact and a seductive look of invitation, with the repeating floral background protruding into the foreground.
52 playing cards.
This deck of cards featuresA Portrait of a Young Gentleman, (2021) by Kehinde Wiley, which was created as a contemporary response to Thomas Gainsborough's iconicBlue Boyportrait (1770). This set of playing cards is inspired by the manner in which Wiley's painting reimagines Gainsborough's young, white subject as a Black, Senegalese surfer and replaces the original moody, wooded landscape with a vibrant, floral backdrop.
