L R Julie Mehretu and Kehinde Wiley (Photo Getty Images for American Express scaled)

Last November 17, American Express announced that it had tapped emerging artists Julie Mehretu and Kehinde Wiley to reinvent the look of its Platinum Card, with the two new designs set to be unveiled during Art Basel Miami on December 1.

“We are humbled to collaborate with two of the most celebrated artists of our time – Julie Mehretu and Kehinde Wiley – to reimagine the Platinum Card design,” said Rafael Mason, the Senior Vice-President of U.S. Premium Products and Loyalty Programs at American Express. “We can’t wait to give our cardmembers the opportunity to choose their favorite Platinum Card design – including small-scale artistic masterpieces they can now carry around in their wallet.”

From her humble roots as an immigrant and refugee from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Julie Mehretu has climbed her way to the top, becoming one of the world’s most famous American contemporary visual artists. She is known for her breathtaking paintings of abstracted landscapes, such as “Immanence (2004),” “Entropia: Construction (2005),” and “Enclosed Resurgence (2001).”

“In exploring palimpsests of history, from geological time to a modern-day phenomenology of the social, Julie Mehretu’s works engage us in a dynamic visual articulation of contemporary experience, a depiction of social behavior and the psychogeography of space,” said the Marian Goodman Gallery. “Mehretu’s work is informed by a multitude of sources including politics, literature, and music. Most recently, her paintings have incorporated photographic images from broadcast media, which depict conflict, injustice, and social unrest.”

Julie Mehretu A Love Supreme, 2014-2018

Meanwhile, New York City-based artist Kehinde Wiley is best known for his paintings that depict African-American figures in traditional Old Master styles. In 2015, he received the Medal of Arts from the U.S. Department of State and three years later, his portrait of then-President Barack Obama was permanently added in the Smithsonian Museum’s National Portrait Gallery.

“Wiley’s signature portraits of everyday men and women riff on specific paintings by Old Masters, replacing the European aristocrats depicted in those paintings with contemporary Black subjects, drawing attention to the absence of African-Americans from historical and cultural narratives,” explained the Brooklyn Museum. “The subjects in Wiley’s paintings often wear sneakers, hoodies, and baseball caps – gear associated with hip-hop culture – and are set against contrasting ornate decorative backgrounds that evoke earlier eras and a range of cultures.”

Given these phenomenal contributions to the country’s art landscape, it’s no wonder why Mehretu and Wiley were chosen by American Express to represent the new era of their Platinum Cards.

Kehinde Wiley (American, b.1977). Shantavia Beale l, 2012. Oil on canvas, 60 x 48 in.

(152.4 x 121.9 cm). Collection of Ana and Lenny Gravier. Kehinde Wiley.

(Photo: Jason Wyche, courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York)

“I think they have helped the whole world reconsider what great art is and what can be said through great art changing the way that we think about the past [and] changing the way we think about the present,” continued Senior Vice-President Mason. “I cannot think of two more inspiring people. From the very beginning, we wanted to collaborate with the two artists that we’ve announced today. So they were the two artists at the very top of our list.”

Besides this new partnership, American Express also announced that it had earmarked $1 million for The Studio Museum in Harlem to “support its work as the nexus for artists of African descent locally, nationally, and internationally. Both Mehretu and Wiley had once participated in its renowned Artists-in-Residence program, which has helped cultivate more than 150 artists, most of whom have become prominent and influential figures in the art world.

Photo by The Points Guy

“There is great potential in this collaboration with American Express,” said Thelma Golden, the Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum. “American Express doesn’t just bring funding, it shines a light on the important work being done at our institution. We’re deeply grateful to the incredible artists who have come through our doors, such as Julie Mehretu and Kehinde Wiley, and who continue to inspire generations of emerging artists at The Studio Museum.”

Golden continued, “We are so thrilled and honored that American Express will support The Studio Museum so we can offer deeply meaningful experiences to audiences in Harlem and beyond. Both [Mehretu and Wiley] are innovators. What’s important about these artists is the way in which they’ve opened new paths, new ways of thinking. Their art has changed the way we think about art but it also changes the way we see the world.”

This collaboration had been spearheaded by Senior Vice-President Mason, a long-time fan of The Studio Museum and Thelma Golden’s work in promoting its mission. He’s reportedly one of the countless Black business executives who actively advocate for their communities within the corporate world.

“The Studio Museum is very much not only a great arts institution but it’s a part of the fabric of the Harlem community,” he said. “And, I think, for all folks of African descent who live in New York City, it’s also this amazing hub of life and culture.”

Interested cardholders will be able to avail of the new designs beginning January 20, 2022. Besides those created by Mehretu and Wiley, they will also have the option of choosing between existing Platinum Card designs.

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