The Department of State removed Kehinde Wiley’s 2015 commissioned painting from the United States embassy in the Dominican Republic this month, claiming that the artist’s “violent and racist words and depictions” have no place in the foreign relations agency.
In a statement shared with Hyperallergic, a spokesperson said that the department has consulted legal representatives to “ascertain whether the art can be sold.”
Leah Campos, the Trump-appointed US Ambassador to the Dominican Republic as of 2025, posted a video of the painting’s removal on Instagram on August 11. The post’s caption read: “In the Trump Administration and under my leadership we are turning away from globalist and woke ideologies and instead embracing American patriotism and the beauty of our great country! 🇺🇸”
Wiley, known for painting Barack Obama’s presidential portrait in 2018, was commissioned in 2013 by the State Department to create “Young Artists After Siamesas 1960” for its Santo Domingo embassy. The painting depicts four individuals — two standing together as if they’re about to dance, and two seated on the floor at their feet — against a floral-patterned backdrop. Wiley studied the work of Dominican artists Celeste Woss y Gil and Gilberto Hernández Ortega in preparation for the work, which he completed with the help of local art students.
