Reflections Dazzle in the Hyperrealistic Chrome Faces of Kip Omolade’s Vivid Portraits

Set against uninterrupted backgrounds, the bold, metallic portraits of Kip Omolade float almost deity-like amid vibrant color. Known for his hyperrealistic treatment of chrome-like visages in oil paint, the artist sometimes incorporates spray-painted elements, drawing on the graffiti culture of New York City’s subways during the 1980s and 1990s when Omolade tagged using the moniker “Kace.”

The artist also presents the mask-like faces from different vantage points, sometimes with incredible eyelashes, whether peering directly at the viewer or positioned in regal profile. Reflections are typically abstract, showing little indication of the surrounding space beyond perhaps blue skies, the sun, and local color, although the monumental “African History” is an exception.

“Diovadiova Chrome Karyn XXII”

Upon closer inspection, the whorls of “African History” reveal numerous additional faces inspired by a wide range of carved sculptures the artist observed in a long-running exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art titled The African Origin of Civilization, plus other examples from art history. Within this one, larger-than-life identity is a host of time-honored traditions and creative expressions.

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a detail of a painting of a Black woman's face as if it has been coated in chrome, showing numerous reflections and tiny imagines within the sheen, isolated against a bright blue background — Detail of “African History”

a painting of a Black woman's face as if it has been coated in chrome, isolated against a bright blue background — “Diovadiova Chrome Sasha III”

a painting of a Black woman's face as if it has been coated in chrome, isolated against a bright pink background with a long shadow beneath the chin — “Diovadiova Chrome Kitty Cash XVII (Pinkitty)”

a painting of a Black woman's face as if it has been coated in chrome, isolated against a bright orange background — “Diovadiova Chrome Karyn XXIV”

a painting of a Black woman's face as if it has been coated in chrome, isolated against a bright orange-red background — “Luxury Graffiti Kitty New Hope”

artist Kip Omolade works on a painting of a Black woman's face as if it has been coated in chrome — “Luxury Graffiti Kitty New Hope” in progress

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