Kehinde Wiley: Portrait of Malak Lunsford II

I audibly gasped as I turned the corner into this space inside @thebroadmuseum and saw Kehinde Wiley’s ‘Portrait of Malak Lunsford II.’

Grand and gorgeous and brimming with juxtaposition, I was first taken with its opulence. I was hit all at once with its color, shape, and brilliantly curated black frame.

Then, the man — his stature, gaze, and vulnerable defiance — one arm guarding his core, holding tightly to the other.

If it weren’t for this figure, the presence of both spring and winter might have beckoned an inquisition into which came first. But, as I walked closer to this grand portrait, everything inside me felt as if this formidable yet vulnerable Black man, in all his modernity, defied the frost and ushered in the birds and blooms. He is the sun.