The Cameroon Study (2010), is a sculpture done by Kehinde Wiley. Cameroon Study is currently in the collection of Suzanne and Howard Feldman in the exhibition under Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic and can be seen currently in the Brooklyn Museum from February 20- May 24, 2015. The exhibition consists of mainly paintings and a few sculptures. Wiley is best known for his naturalistic portrait paintings of young black men and women. In most of his paintings, he swaps the faces of men in customary European paintings with the faces of modern black men. What Wiley’s paintings and sculptures have in common are the questions that arise, insinuating everyday dilemmas about race and stereotypes. The difference between the sculptures to the paintings is that because the paintings itself look really realistic, seeing one of Wiley’s sculptures makes the sculptures look more impressive because it actually is three dimensional; kind of like being at a live concert instead of watching it behind a screen.

The sculpture Cameroon Study depicts a man from the chest up, facing forward, with a sneaker propped on the top of his head. The man is from an African descent and he has a stern expression on his face. The sneaker perched on his head is a right shoe from the company “Nike” and the shoe is positioned so that the company logo on the side of the shoe can be seen as the man is facing forward. He’s wearing a striped, collared, button down shirt, with a nametag that says “sports” on the left side of his chest along with the Nike company symbol on the right. There are thick straps around his shoulders, like he’s wearing a schoolbag. The whole sculpture is a made of bronze and partially gilt.

My interpretation of this sculpture is that the shoe on his head represents the societal pressure that has been handed to him of needing to buy and have expensive brand products to meet the standards of being accepted in today’s society. The significance of the bronze color of the statue represents that he isn’t made of gold, and that he does not have the money to spend so lavishly on things that he can barely afford, compared to those of a higher social class. On top of that, the backpack shows that he is still young and going to school. The expression on his face isn’t showing any sense of happiness by creating this false air of fortune. This need for fitting in is mainly targeted towards the lower social class and younger people, thinking if they had what they couldn’t normally afford, would make them feel more superior and better about themselves. Factors that influence this mindset into people’s brains would be fashion industries and any form of media. The artwork sends a powerful message across to the viewers. It is an interesting way to pass the message about society’s views about deciding what is expected of people and the struggle people do to keep up with it. Wiley was very successful in passing the message along and I really enjoyed this artwork because it speaks the truth that everyone else is afraid to say.