A painting by Kehinde Wiley, the artist commissioned to create former President Barack Obama’s official portrait, has been removed from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic following criticism from officials within the Trump administration. The State Department has indicated its "goal" is to divest itself of the artwork and is exploring legal avenues to potentially sell it.
The work, titled “Young Artists After Siamesas 1960,” was commissioned by the federal government in 2013 with taxpayer funding and was first displayed at the embassy in 2015. The painting depicts four young Dominican artists amidst a floral background.
Prior to its removal, the painting was reportedly covered with a tarp featuring the U.S. flag. Erin Scavino, identified as an ex-contestant on "The Apprentice" and wife of White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, stated on a podcast that she worked to have the painting taken down, describing it as "aesthetically terrifying" and "very woke."
Leah Campos, the U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic, appeared to celebrate the painting’s removal in a social media video. A spokeswoman for the State Department, while not directly addressing the painting itself, cited sexual assault allegations against Wiley, which he has denied, and comments he made about another painting where he discussed a "play on the ‘kill whitey’ thing." The spokeswoman stated that "the work of an individual with such violent and racist words and depictions has no place in the America First State Department."
Wiley, who received a Medal of Arts from the State Department in 2015, had spoken about his approach to the commissioned work. According to a spokesperson for the Art in Embassies program, Wiley was asked to capture the subjects' personalities and the diversity of the Dominican Republic. The artist reportedly immersed himself in the local art scene to find his subjects, noting "similarities between the skin color politics of Dominicans and Americans" and stating that artists reflect a nation's "issues, concerns, and obsessions." The Art in Embassies program’s website currently celebrates Wiley for his "visually sumptuous, sensitive depictions of contemporary Black and Brown people."