Who

Wiley is known for his huge, hyper-realistic portraits blending hip-hop with Renaissance painting.

Backstory

Raised in South Central LA as one of six kids, Wiley took art lessons along with his twin brother at their mother's insistence, to keep them off the streets. He ended up enrolling at the San Francisco Art Institute and later moved to the East coast to attend Yale's MFA program. While he was living in New Haven, his work caught the attention of Thelma Golden at the Studio Museum in Harlem; she offered him a residency, which he took quite literally—he got a futon and moved into the studio space. Living in New York, he located his first subjects by walking the streets, and had difficulty convincing them to pose. (Many assumed they'd have to pay for the paintings when he'd finished.) Since then, his signature work—large-scale portraits of young African American men painted in styles and poses inspired by traditional Italian and French painting—has generated major attention and landed him a spot in the Prague Biennale and Maurizio Cattelan's "Wrong Gallery" exhibition at the 2006 Whitney Biennial. His first major museum show took place at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2006.

Of note

Wiley's become something of a celeb among New York's hip-hop power brokers. Russell Simmons and LL Cool J collect his work. In 2005, he was invited by VH1 to create portraits of Big Daddy Kane, Biggie Smalls, Ice-T, and Salt-n-Pepa for an awards show. Wiley's art is now on display at Deitch Projects, and Cereal Art sells his neoclassical busts. Not surprisingly, his prices are rising fast. In early 2007, a Wiley triptych was sold for $75,000 to the Rubell Family Collection.

On screen

He appeared in 2006's Art Star television show as an advisor to the eight aspiring artists taken under gallerist Jeffrey Deitch's wing.

Personal

The gay artist—he's listed the West Village's Chi Chiz as his favorite gay bar—lives in a rented 3,200 square foot space in Williamsburg, but is planning on moving to a former church he's renovating in Greenpoint. He needs the space: He's known for throwing huge parties.