Rumors of War is a series of artworks by Kehinde Wiley examining equestrian portraiture in the canon of Western art history[1] culminating in a bronze monumental equestrian statue by the artist of an African-American young man (with dreadlocks in a ponytail, jeans ripped at the knees and Nike high-top sneakers), as the statue was being initially unveiled the drape was caught up in the dreadlocks.
Stuart in Richmond, Virginia in particular and similar statues of high-ranking Confederate Army officers, some of which still stand in the United States despite persistent calls for their removal.
In September 2019 Wiley unveiled the work in Times Square in the borough of Manhattan in New York City with the backing of the Malcolm X Shabazz High School band from Newark, New Jersey.
[11][12] Wiley first employed the title "Rumors of War" in 2006 for a series of four large paintings which examine European equestrian portraiture and were premiered at the Deitch Projects gallery in New York City.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake"...[14] The bronze statue is placed upon a limestone pedestal into which the titular phrase is inscribed.