While we have seen images of the Kehinde Wiley sculpture, Rumors of War, the images don’t do justice to this stunning, visually imposing new installation on the plaza at 46th Street and Broadway in Times Square.
Kehinde Wiley’s first monumental public sculpture, Rumors of War, will be installed this fall on the Broadway Plaza between 46th and 47th Streets before it is permanently installed on historic Arthur Ashe Boulevard in Richmond at the entrance to the VMFA, a recent acquisition to the museum’s world-class collection in 2020.
The installation is a larger-than-life sculpture cast in bronze, of a massive horse mounted proudly on a large stone pedestal, with a young, African-American rider dressed in urban streetwear. It is Wiley’s direct response to the critical national debate around Confederate monuments, and continues the artist’s career-long investigation of representation, race, gender, and power through portraiture.